THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  QUESTIONING 
IN  CLASS-ROOM  METHOD 


By 

ELSIE  ANN  WERNER 

A.  B.  University  of  Illinois,  1921 


THESIS 


SUBMITTED  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS 
FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  MASTER  OF  ARTS  IN  EDUCATION 
IN  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  ILLINOIS,  1922 


URBANA,  ILLINOIS 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/criticalstudyofqOOwern 


\ (A. 

W 43  

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL 

June  1 1922 

i HEREBY  RECOMMEND  THAT  THE  THESIS  PREPARED  UNDER  MY 
SUPERVISION  by — Elsie  Ann  Werner 

ENiiTLED_  A Critical  Study  of  Questioning  in  Cl  ass -room- 
Methods. 

BE  ACCEPTED  AS  FULFILLING  THIS  PART  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR 
THE  DEGREE  OF  ..Master-,  of  Arts  in  Education 


Recommendation  concurred  in* 

Committee 

on 

Final  Examination* 


•Required  for  doctor’s  degree  but  not  for  master’s 


TABLE  OF  COST  ENTS 


Chapter  Page 

I.  Introduction I 

II.  Questioning  a Neglected  Field:. 3 

A.  Causes: 

1.  Teachers  do  not  know  the  psychology  of  what  they  are 

doing 3 

2.  Literature  on  questioning  is  limited 5 

3.  Supervision  is  neglected.. 5 

4.  Training  in  questioning  as  in  psychology  and  in  content 

subjects  is  not  universal 6 

III.  Modern  Class-room  Methods 8 

A.  Aims 8 

B.  Defective  aims  observed 8 

C.  Aim  and  its  Relation  to  method 9 

D.  General  principles  of  method 9 

E.  Types  of  method: 

1.  project 10 

2.  laboratory 11 

3.  review  and  examination 11 

4.  lecture  method.... 12 

5.  Socratic  method 15 

6.  topical  method 20 

F.  Stenographic  reports  in  Algebra  and  History  showing  the 

Relation  between  Aim  and  Method.. 21 

IV.  Quantity  versus  Quality. 37 

A.  Number  of  questions 37 

1.  Large  number-  Stenographic  report  in  English-  Sir 

Walter  Scott 40 

2.  Small  number  - Stenographic  report  in  Civics  - Immigra- 

tion.   45 

B.  The  Quality  of  Questions 49 

1.  Stenographic  report  in  English-  Gray's  "Elegy." 49 

V.  The  Art  of  Questioning 53 

A.  Quotations  from  DeGarmo,  Betts,  Parker 53 

B.  The  function  of  questioning 54 

C.  The  essentials  of  questioning 54 

D.  Types  of  faulty  technique 61 

E.  Stenographic  reports  in  Geography  and  Biology 69 

F.  Two  general  types  of  questions 76 


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...  .... 


Chapter  I 

THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THE  STUDY  OF  QUESTIONING. 

This  investigation  is  an  intensive  study  of  one  phase  of  classroom 
instruction  - the  use  of  the  question.  It  is  a critical  study  of  classroom  oro- 
ceiure  with  the  hope  of  promulgating  a theory  making  for  greater  efficiency  in 
teaching.  The  purpose  of  this  study  is  to  turn  the  searchlight  upon  some  signi- 
ficant  tendencies  in  our  teaching,  and  to  suggest  opportunities  for  constructive 
work  in  a neglected  field  in  the  training  and  the  supervision  of  teachers. 

My  investigations  touching  upon  the  teacher’s  use  of  the  question  has 
covered  a period  of  six  months.  I have  observed  one  hundred  classes  of  three 

well  recognized  and  standard  high  schools  and  as  many  grade  schools.  I selected, 

as  far  as  possible  for  observation,  the  most  highly  recommended  teachers;  so  that 
the  results  of  my  study  would  reflect  the  work  that  is  acknowledged  to  be  the 
average  or  above.  In  the  selected  classes  of  high  school  subjects:  Algebra, 
Ancient  history.  Civics,  English,  Geometry,  Botany  and  French;  and  in  the  grade 
subjects:  geography,  history  and  reading.  I copied  stenographically  the  recita- 
tions verbatim,  so  that  I- could  have  accurate  records  for  detailed  study. 

It  seems  very  generally  assumed  that  teachers  know  by  a sort  of  intui- 
tion when  to  ask  questions  and  how  to  ask  them  - that  if  the  content  has  been 

adequately  planned,  the  questions  will  in  some  way  adjust  themselves  to  the  needs 

of  the  moment. 

The  situation,  as  I have  found  it  since  making  s study  of  the  subject, 
indicates  a poor  adjustment  since  teachers  resort  to  very  faulty  technique  in  re- 
phrasing their  own  questions  two,  three  and  four  times  for  the  sake  of  clearness 
and  self  satisfaction  and  ask  such  a multiplicity  of  questions  that  only  memory 


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2 


and  very  superficial  judgment  can  be  effected. 

How  the  question  functions  as  a medium  of  instruction  is  exemplified, 
in  part,  by  the  young  lad  who  remarked  petulantly,  after  a severe  cross-examina- 
tion in  school,  that  he  v/as  going  to  be  a school  teacher,  since  the  teacher  did 
not  have  to  know  anything.  ’’All  that  she  had  to  do  was  to  ask  quest  ions.'* 
Teachers  do  use  questions  not  infrequently,  as  a means  to  bridere 
gaps  and  to  kill  time  during  a class  period,  thus  preventing  its  legitimate  and 
valuable  function  as  an  educational  agent. 


3 


Chapter  II 

DEFECTS  IN  QUESTIONING 

Since  the  days  of  Socrates  the  question  method  has  occupied  a prominent 
place  in  the  technique  of  instruction.  "To  question  well,"  says  De  Garmo, 

"is  to  teach  well.  In  the  slcillful  use  of  the  question  more  than  anything  else 
lies  the  fine  art  of  teaching." 

Today  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  school  time  is  occupied  with  question! 
and  answers.*  Many  teachers  ask  questions  for  months  and  years  without  ever 
knowing  the  psychology  of  what  they  are  doing,  hence  without  ever  talcing  into  ac- 
count what  mental  changes  a question  calls  forth,  what  emotional  state  it  arouses 
in  the  pupills  mind,  how  much  the  course  of  ideation  and  thinking  is  influenced. 

If  teachers  do  not  know  anything  about  these  changes  they  are  not  qualified  for 
their  profession. 

The  question  rightly  used  is  a medium  through  which  a teacher  comes  in- 
to closest  touch  effectively  with  her  pupil.  The  pupil’s  reaction  to  5-iven  ques- 
tions will  reveal  his  mental  type  and  characteristics.  A skillful  teacher  will 
soon  know  whether  her  pupil  is  of  a visual,  auditory,  motor  or  motor-mixed  type: 
whether  his  temperament  is  sanguine  or  melancholy:  whether  he  is  able  to  impress 

facts  on  his  mind  with  ease  or  difficulty:  whether  he  retains  a great  mass  of 

ideas  or  only  scanty  fragments.  All  these  analytical  observations  are  the  in- 
dispensable tasks  of  a teacher  in  a real  dynamic  education. 

The  use  that  a teacher  makes  of  the  recitation  period  reveals  very 
clearly  his  aim  and  purpose  in  teaching.  I hardly  need  to  say  that  not  every 
question  needs  to  bristle  with  the  ultimate  aim,  but  it  is  certainly  true  that  if 
a teacher  possesses  an  honest  purpose  in  his  teaching,  that  aim  or  purpose  will 
1.  Yamada,  Soshichi,  Study  of  Questioning.  Fed.  Seminary,  Vol.20,  p. 129. 


- 


■ 

af. 


* OH* 


4 


give  color  and  vitality  to  his  question.  Thus,  if  a teacher's  ultimate  aim  is 
the  "acquisition  of  knowledge",  it  is  reasonable  to  expect  that  his  class  work 
will  reflect  that  aim.  He  will  resort  to  many  and  detailed  factual  questions. 

If  his  aim  is  the  "harmonious  development  of  all  powers",  then  again,  it  is 
reasonable  to  expect  his  class  work  to  reflect  that  aim.  He  will  employ  ques- 
tions of  great  variety:  those  stimulating  the  memory,  those  requiring  reasoning, 
judgment  and  analysis  and  those  that  will  call  for  further  questioning  on  the 
part  of  pupils.  If  the  teacher's  ultimate  aim  is  "social  efficiency",  it  is, 
likewise,  true  that  the  class-work  will  reflect  that  aim.  Questions  will  draw 
upon  the  experiences  of  the  student  at  every  angle.  If  the  immediate  aim  is  to 
drill  upon  previously  acquired  facts  such  as  types  of  factoring  problems  or 
irregular  verbs,  in  every  case  his  class  work  will  reflect  the  aim.  Such  ques- 
tions to  be  fruitful  will  be  distributed  rapidly  among  various  members  of  the 
class,  others  being  held  responsible  for  the  detection  of  any  errors.  If  the 
aim  is  merely  to  cover  the  assignment,  the  aim  is  obvious.  The  teacher  will 
spend  his  time,  day  after  day,  quizzing  upon  the  facts  set  forth  in  the  text 
book.  If  the  aim  is  vague,  obscure  or  illy-defined,  the  classroom  procedure  will 
show  that  it  is  without  a goal.  The  questions,  although  perhaps  clear,  concise, 
and  adaptable  to  individual  needs,  fail  to  be  logical,  coherent  and  purposeful  - 
fail  to  contribute  to  a definite  goal. 

The  teacher  who  is  a master  of  the  art  of  questioning  knows  how,  by 
the  use  of  the  right  question  in  the  right  place  to  teach  his  pupil  to  acquire 
and  to  classify  knowledge.  "If  he  is  not  a master  of  the  art,  if  he  cannot 
himself  be  clear  and  logical  in  his  questioning,  he  fosters  in  his  pupils  negativ< 
habits  of  work,  poor  associations  and  careless  impressions."  *■ 

^ith  a scientific  teacher,  the  recitation  period  is  the  time  to  stimu- 

1.  Stevens,  Romiett,  The  Question  as  a Means  of  Efficiency  in  Instruction,  Page  4. 

Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  1912. 


5 


late  pupils  to  think;  to  direct  the  thought  processes;  to  cultivate  the  fine 
art  of  good  expression.  With  a mechanical  teacher  the  recitation  period  is  con- 
tinuously an  hour  of  pumping  into  or  out  of  a storage  reservoir  of  the  mind 
often  by  poorly  phrased,  multitudinous,  obscure,  and  fragmentary  questions. 

In  addition  to  the  limited  knowledge  of  the  individual  psychology  and 
definite  aims  on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  the  lack  of  available  literature  on  the 
subject  of  questioning  may  be  ascribed  as  one  of  the  reasons  for  the  defects  in 
questioning.  So  little  has  ever  been  written  about  this  aspect  of  training. 
Occasional  chapters  appear  on  the  art  of  questioning  in  books  of  method.  The 
most  helpful  to  teachers  are:  "Interest  and  Education",  Chapter  XIV,  by  De  Garmo; 
"The  Recitation",  Chapter  III,  by  Betts;  "The  Teaching  Process",  Chapter  XI,  by 
Strayer;  "The  Introduction  to  High  School  Teaching",  Chapter  XV,  by  Colvin. 

Because  of  the  dragon  of  misguided  questioning  so  universally  rampant 
in  our  schools,  a greater  need  arises  for  closer  supervision  between  teacher  and 
principal.  A principal  who  is  to  be  of  the  greatest  service  to  a community 
should  have  reasonable  time  set  aside  for  supervision  and  less  for  clerical  dutiet 
and  the  details  of  administration. 

A large  per  cent  of  the  failures  in  high  schools  is  due  to  poor  in- 
struction; and  a large  per  cent  of  poor  instruction  is  due  to  untrained  teachers 
in  and  out  of  service.  Poor  or  mediocre  instruction  could  be  improved,  if  the 
teacher  in  her  beginning  years  were  given  intelligent  and  dexterous  assistance  in 
the  one  phase  of  classroom  instruction  - the  questioning. 

A community  would  gain  good  interest  on  its  investment  if  its  Board  of 
Education  would  employ  a principal  with  the  understanding  that  he  should  dedicate 
one-half  of  his  time  to  the  improvement  of  the  technique  of  instruction  in  the 
classroom. 

How  many  teachers  could  be  saved  from  failure  in  the  school  room  if 
they  had  been  given  the  slightest  premonition  that  their  aims  were  too  vague. 


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6 


obscure  or  general;  or  that  their  methods  were  too  soulless  and  mechanical  or 
that  their  questions  were  too  numerous  for  reflective  thinking  or  too  few  and 
limited  in  scope  to  give  opportunity  for  much  pupil  activity? 

Possibly  another  reason  for  the  general  defect  in  the  questioning,  as 
practised  in  the  modern  day,  is  the  casual  attention  paid  to  the  subject  in  the 
training  of  teachers.1  In  normal  schools  and  colleges,  two  lines  of  instruction 
are  strongly  stressed,  namely,  the  fund  of  knowledge  and  the  psychology  of  teach- 
ing. A school  emphasizes  the  necessity  for  a fund  of  knowledge,  requiring  that 
a certain  proportion  of  time  be  given  to  content  subjects  in  order  that  a teach- 
er’s experience  may  be  broader  and  richer  than  any  possible  needs  of  his  class. 
The  school  also  emphasizes  the  importance  of  the  psychology  and  the  theory  of 
teaching,  requiring  students  to  make  apolication  of  their  psychology  or  theory 
in  selecting  or  adapting  from  their  fund  of  knowledge  certain  portions  for  the 
immediate  needs  of  the  classroom.  In  concrete  form  this  last  phase  of  work  is  em 
bodied  in  a lesson  plan,  which  gives  the  psychological  aims  of  the  lesson,  the 
content,  and  a brief  outline  of  the  manner  of  presentation.  This  accomplished, 
the  student  teacher  is  sent  to  meet  his  class,  leaving  the  immediate  connection 
between  the  plan  in  his  mind  and  the  experience  in  the  mind  of  the  child  to  be 
met  through  a series  of  questions.  These  questions  may  be  so  inspiring  in  their 
origin  that  they  stimulate  the  mental  life  of  the  children  to  just  the  right  de- 
gree of  vigorous  activity,  or  they  may,  in  themselves,  wholly  defeat  a nobly 
conceived  psychological  aim  of  the  lesson.  Por  these  reasons,  the  subject  of 
questioning  should  have  a place  in  the  training  of  every  teacher,-  a place  that 
is  comparable  to  the  "fund  of  knowledge"  and  to  the  psychology  of  teaching.  A 
young  teacher  should  not  be  left  to  do  haphazard  work  in  questioning,  but  she 
should  know  the  functioning  power  of  different  types  of  questions  and  she  should 
know  how  to  incorporate  into  her  lesson  plan  a series  of  questions,  possibly 

1.  Stevens,  F.omiett,  The  Question  as  a Measure  of  Efficiency  in  Instruction. 

Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  1912. 


. 


7 — “ " — — 

eight  or  ten  in  number,  that  will  indicate  conclusively  the  intended  value  of  the 
lesson. 

The  entire  range  of  questions,  however,  can  never  be  prepared  before 
entering  a class.  Any  teacher  who  attempted  to  follow  a rigid  sequence  of  ques- 
tions would  have  all  spontaneity  swallowed  up  in  method.  There  is  a reasonable 
course  between  the  total  absence  of  method  and  a total  absorption  therein. 

Not  always  is  mere  practice  a panacea  for  all  ills  in  questioning.  In 
fact,  I have  observed  from  my  study  that  many  of  the  most  colorless,  the  most  ob- 
scure and  the  most  irrelevant  and  restated  questions  came  from  experienced  teachers, 
When  a teacher  conscientiously  makes  a study  of  the  subject,  analyzing  and  criti- 
cising his  own  attempts,  it  is  possible  to  develop  a technique  in  the  art  of 
questioning.  It  is  essential  to  bring  conscientious  attention  to  bear  upon  the 
subject  before  one  can  command  the  habit  of  questioning  well. 

"In  general,  we  may  say  that  every  question  should  tend  to  strengthen 
the  pupils  mental  power  by  inciting  him  to  think;  it  should  fix  or  extend  his 
knowledge  or  increase  his  power  of  expression.  Consequently,  the  teacher  should 
study  to  frame  his  question  so  as  to  stirculate  clear,  vigorous  thinking;  he 
should  avoid  all  forms  of  questions  that  tend  to  confusion  by  indefiniteness  or 
to  mental  laxity  by  their  too  great  universality."* 

"Every  quest  ion?  says  Matthias,  2 "must  strengthen  the  mental  power  of  the 
pupil,  sharpen  his  understanding,  advance  his  knowledge,  and  develop  his  speech 
power.  Hence,  one  should  not  put  any  question  in  which  a pupil  needs  to  think 
nothing  or  little.  Nor  should  any  question  be  asked  without  giving  sufficient  time 
for  purposive  thinking  and  a complete  expression  of  thought.  Thousands  of  teachers 
practise  hourly  and  daily,  year  after  year,  yet  are  no  better  off  than  when  they 
began.  The  art  of  questioning  cannot  be  mastered  without  an  accurate  knowledge  of 
its  fundamental  principles  - mere  practice  is  not  sufficient  to  teach  one  the 
psychology  of  teaching." 

1.  De  Garmo,8harles,  Interest  and  Education,  p. 178. 

2.  Matthias,Adolf , Praktlsche  Pedagogik  fur  hohre  Lehranstalten, 1895, p. 79. 


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8 


Chapter  III. 

MODERN  CLASS-ROOM  METHODS 

"The  aim",  says  Colvin, ^"is  the  pivotal  point  in  every  lesson." 

The  instructor  who  teaches  history  with  the  aim  of  giving  his  pupils  a 
view  of  human  life  must  teach  facts  and  dates,  but  he  must  select  these  facts  with 
reference  to  some  principle  and  teach  them  with  reference  to  some  meaning.  Just 
at  this  point  a teacher  will  have  greatest  need  for  a clearly  definied  specific 
aim. 

The  following  aims  were  recorded  from  history  observations: 

1.  To  study  the  expansion  policy  of  Rome. 

2.  To  bring  out  interesting  facts  in  the  life  of  Hannibal. 

3.  To  give  pupils  an  insight  into  the  career  of  Julius  Caesar. 

4.  To  point  out  the  growth  and  influence  of  Christianity. 

These  aims  are  too  general,  indefinite  and  vague;  they  would  prompt  the 
most  successful  teacher  to  ask  straggling,  fragmentary,  illogical  and  purposeless 
questions.  How  much  more  meaningful  the  questions  and  the  whole  lesson  might  have 
been,  had  the  foregoing  aims  been  specific,  definite  and  clear. 

1.  To  determine  why  the  expansion  policy  of  Rome  was  superior  to  that 

of  Greece. 

2.  To  point  out  the  elements  of  strength  in  Hannibal  that  prompted  him 

to  offer  little  resistance  in  the  Second  Punic  War. 

3.  To  show  why  monarchy  in  50  B.C.  was  inevitable  and  what  Caesar 

contributed  to  that  end. 

4.  To  show  wiiy  Christianity  was  considered  a rebellious  and  a disinte- 

grating movement  from  the  standpoint  of  the  Romans. 

.Again  such  aims  as: 

1.  To  introduce  pupils  to  the  subject  of  proportion. 

2.  To  study  the  cell  structure  of  the  leaf,  root,  and  the  stem. 

3.  To  study  the  grammatical  constructions  of,  "Julius  Caesar." 

are  largely  formal  and  of  no  value  in  actual  teaching.  Such  aims,  if  properly 
realized,  would  call  forth  a multiplicity  of  questions  which  could  not  have  their 
center  of  gravity  in  the  stimulation  of  thought.  Another  aim  that  is  recorded 


1.  Colvin,  Stephen  Sheldon,  Introduction  to  High  School  Teaching,  p.337. 


9 


from  one  of  the  stenographic  sheets  is: 

To  make  clear  the  underlying  principles  in  the  factoring  of: 
a2+2ab+b2;  a2-2ab+b2  and  a2-b2.  This  aim  is  altogether  too  broad  in  its  scope 

to  be  satisfactorily  realized  in  the  course  of  a single  lesson,  Any  teacher 
could  be  commended  if  she  had  set  up  as  her  aim  the  factoring  of  a perfect  square 
trinomial  and  had  satisfactorily  realized  that  aim  in  one  lesson. 

Frequently  teachers  do  not  distinguish  between  an  aim  and  a method. 

Aims  always  deal  with  the  what  and  why  of  instruction  while  method  deals  with  the 
how  of  instruction. 

The  skilful  teacher  must  be  able  to  use  a variety  of  methods  in  his  in- 
struction. No  one  plan  of  presentation  can  be  used  successfully  day  after  day  in 
any  class-room.  The  very  monotony  and  lack  of  variety  will  tend  to  cripple  inter 
est  and  lessen  attention.  "Interest  is  the  first  requisite  for  attention  and 
all  mental  activity  no  matter  what  special  method  of  instruction  may  be  used."* 
Nothing  can  take  the  place  of  interest.  It  alone  can  bring  all  the  powers  and 
capacities  of  the  student  into  play.  "Hence  one  of  the  first  and  greatest  prob- 
lems of  the  teacher  is  to  secure  interest  not  by  creating  a cheap  and  sensational 
device  but  by  adapting  the  subject  matter  to  the  experience  and  to  the  capacity 
of  the  pupils;  by  having  all  the  physical  and  mental  conditions  conducive  to 
thinking;  and  by  keeping  himself  constantly  alive  with  enthusiasm."2 

The  second  principle  of  any  method  is  the  procedure  from  the  known  to 

the  related  unknown.  To  make  use  of  this  principle  it  is  necessary  to  freshen 

up  what  a pupil  knows  on  a topic  by  asking  him  questions  or  otherwise  causing 

him  to  think  anew  the  facts  previously  learned  that  are  related  to  what  he  is 

about  to  learn.  For  example,  when  beginning  the  subject  of  fractions  in  Algebra 

a teacher  should  have  his  pupils  review  the  types  of  factoring,  since  they  are 

fundamental  to  multiplication  and  division  of  fractions.  Having  stated  these 

1. Betts, George  Herbert, The  Recitation,  Chap. II,  p.30.  Riverside  Educational 
2. Ibjd.  Monographs, 1912. 


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two  general  principles  of  method,  we  shall  now  consider  some  of  the  special 
forms  that  are  employed  tn  the  class-room  recitation. 

The  project  method  is  the  most  difficult  method  and  requires  the  most 
skill  and  forethought  on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  That  is  obviously  the  reason 
for  its  being  so  sparingly  used.  "A  project  is  a problematic  act  carried  to 
completion  in  ita  natural  setting."*  It  differs  essentially  from  a problem  in 
that  it  lays  the  emphasis  upon  the  manual  act  while  the  latter  emphasizes  the 
intellectualiet ic  side.  The  project  creates  an  interest  of  a deep-seated  sort 
because  the  interest  comes  from  associative  connections  of  many  types.  The 
strong  initial  motive  of  the  project  challenges  the  pupil  to  think  with  a higher 
degree  of  effectiveness. 

From  observations,  I note  that  courses  in  Home  Hconcmics  lend  them- 
selves most  readily  to  projects  such  as:  serving  cheap  but  nutritious  school 
lunches,  remodeling  old  garments,  making  over  a girls*  room  for  greater  artistic 
satisfaction  and  mechanical  comfort.  In  these  days  of  motor  cars,  the  study  of 
the  principles  of  physics  through  the  frame,  motor,  fly-wheel,  cooling  system, 
electrical  system,  storage  battery  and  operation  of  the  automobile  would,  indeed 
approach  the  project  method.  The  principles  of  Moment  of  forces.  Hooker's  Law, 
Stability  and  the  low  center  of  gravity  could  be  studied  from  the  frame  and 
spring;  Horse  power,  expansion  of  gases,  and  thermodynamics  from  the  motor; 
methods  of  the  transfer  of  heat  and  specific  heat  from  the  cooling  system; direct 
current,  principles  of  induction  from  the  electrical  system;  storage  of  chemical 
energy  and  the  transfer  to  electrical  energy  when  used  from  the  storage  battery; 
and  inertia,  momentum,  velocity  and  centrifugal  force  through  the  operation  of 
the  car. 

The  project  method  aims  to  present  problems  in  situations  not  essen- 
tially different  from  those  activities  in  actual  life.  Not  all  material  in  a 
1.  Stevenson,  John  Alford,  Project  Method  in  Teaching,  Ph.D.  Thesis,  1921. 


. 


* 

• 1 


. 


. 


. ’ ' ; 


11 


given  subject  should  be  taught  by  the  project  method.  Frequently  such  methods 
would  be  unwise,  uneconomical  both  from  the  standpoint  of  time  and  money.  However, 
the  project  method  is  a very  effective  method  of  teaching  and  can  well  be  used 
extensively  in  any  subject  of  the  curriculum. 

The  discussion  of  the  project  method  may  seem  irrelevant  and  far  remote 
from  the  writer's  purpose,  but  not  so.  After  the  facts  and  principles  have  been 
introduced  by  the  project  method,  then  the  material  must  be  arranged  in  a logical 
order  by  the  question  method  until  a systematic  grasp  of  the  subject  has  been 
realized. 

The  laboratory  method  has  its  essence  in  the  fact  that  pupils  themselves 
carry  out  some  experiment  or  in  some  way  learn  through  investigation  and  action. 
Such  method  need  not  be  confined  to  physics,  chemistry  or  biology  but  may  be  used 
in  literature  and  civics  as  well.  The  dramatization  of  the  Pyramus  and  Thisbe 
scene  in  "A  Midsummer  Nightfe  Dream"  is  as  truly  a laboratory  method  as  is  the 
mixing  of  potassium  chlorate  and  manganese  dioxide,  or  the  growing  of  a bacteria 
culture  in  a laboratory.  This  method,  too,  must  be  accompanied  by  a systematic 
presentation  made  possible  by  the  chief  educational  instrument  of  instruction  - 
the  question. 

The  Review  and  the  examination  methods  speak  for  themselves.  The  func- 
tion of  a review  is  to  organize  facts  and  principles  into  large  systems  after 
the  subject  has  been  skeletonized.  Thus  in  Roman  history,  a review  lesson  is  in 
place  after  an  intensive  study  of  the  last  century  of  the  Republic  (133-131  B.C.) 

- the  social,  economic,  political  decay,  the  civil  strife  between  Marius  and  Sulla 
and  the  one-man-power  of  Julius  Caesar. 

The  examination  method  is  only  a capstone  of  the  review  process.  Just 
now  this  method  is  under  the  ban  of  the  reformer,  nevertheless,  it  is  an  indispen- 
sable agency  of  instruction.  "The  function  of  the  examination  as  a test  of  the 
pupil's  knowledge  is  not  of  paramount  importance,  but  its  function  as  an  organiz- 


. 


* 


. 


0.  ' : * I'f  M ^ 


. 


e * 


12 


ing  agency  is  supreme.  It  is  a strain,  to  be  sure,  but  a strain  that  pays.  The 
virtue  of  the  examination  lies  in  its  power  to  force  strenuous  effort  to  the 
task  of  organizing  a large  body  of  facts  and  principles  into  a coherent  system. "I 
The  questions  for  this  .method  should  be  large  and  comprehensive,  so  formulated 
that  they  will  bring  out  and  exercise  not  the  memory  for  details,  but  the  capa- 
city to  grasp  large  masses  of  knowledge  and  weld  the  separate  facts  and  princi- 
ples into  systematic  units. 

Marks  given  by  teachers  are  the  universal  measures  of  determining 
the  value  of  the  examination  paper.  Since  there  is  such  a wide  variation  in  the 
distribution  of  the  marks,  one  is  led  to  believe  that  the  character  of  the  ques- 
tion has  been  responsible  for  such  a multitude  of  interpretations  on  the  part  of 
the  pupil. 

The  seriousness  of  the  wide  variation  in  marks  given  on  examination 

o 

papers  was  little  realized  until  Starch  and  Eliot  made  a series  of  investiga- 
tions in  which  two  examination  papers  in  first-year  high-school  English  were 
graded  by  one  hundred  forty-two  teachers.  One  final  examination  paper  in 
geometry  was  graded  by  118  teachers  in  mathematics  and  one  final  examination 
paper  in  American  history  was  graded  by  70  teachers  in  history.  The  marks  of 
the  first  English  paper  run  all  the  way  from  64  to  98,  of  the  second  English 
paper  from  50  to  98,  of  the  geometry  paper  from  28  to  92  and  of  the  history 
paper  from  43  to  90.  A thorough  investigation  of  the  examination  questions  might 
reveal  the  fact  that  they  were  too  small  in  their  scope,  too  vague  and  incorapre- 
hensive,  and  too  poorly  adapted  to  the  mental  capacity  of  the  pupils  to  prompt 
any  sort  of  uniformity  of  answer.  Hence  such  a wide  variation  in  marks. 

The  lecture  method  is  one  which  has  wide  currency.  In  all  good  in- 
struction the  teacher  is  constantly  broadening  the  point  of  view  presented  in 
the  text  brought  in  from  his  own  wider  knowledge.  Constant  tact  and  judgment 

1.  Bagley, William  Chandler,  The  Educative  Process,  p.335,  1915. 

2.  Starch,  Daniel,  Educational  Psychology,  p.433,  1921. 


. 


* 


13 


on  the  part  of  the  teacher  are  required  to  judge  just  when,  how  and  in  what  de- 
gree to  add  material  cf  his  own,  "On  the  other  hand,  the  teacher  who  has  nothing 
to  contribute  out  of  his  own  knowledge  and  experience  is  ill-prepared  for  the 
work  in  instruction.  It  is  in  these  supplemental  remarks,  occasional  applica- 
tions, broader  discussions  that  the  teacher  has  his  best  opportunity  for  stimulat- 
ing, inspiring  and  energizing  the  ambitions  and  intellectual  ideals  of  his 
pupils. 

The  broadest  criticism  that  I have  to  offer  in  the  modern  methods  of 
teaching  as  I have  observed  them  in  my  study,  is  that  the  teacher  activity  is 
far  greater  than  the  student  activity.  The  teacher  does  too  much  of  the  work 
of  his  pupils.  The  teacher  is  frequently  so  full  of  Information,  and  abundant  en- 
thusiasm that  he  assumes  the  responsibility  of  the  class  work  by  adding  illuminat- 
ing historical  incidents,  interesting  accounts  of  geographical  visitations,  ap- 
propriate excerpts  from  literature,  noteworthy  current  events,  often  irrelevant, 
but  in  far  too  many  cases,  he  undertakes  to  '•recite"  the  lesson  assigned  to  the 
class.  Such  method  of  procedure  used  exclusively  is  fatal  togood  teaching.  It 
breeds  habits  of  indifference  or  at  best  habits  of  sporadic  thinking  and  robs 
the  student  of  the  ooportunity  of  learning  to  carry  on  a coherent  and  continued 
discussion. 


1.  Betts,  George  Herbert,  The  Recitation,  p.45 


_ 


, 


♦ ■ 


■ 


14 


Diagram  showing  the  percentages  of  teachers  and  pupil 
activity  in  a forty-five  minute  period  as  meas- 
ured by  the  number  of  spoken  words. 


Teacher 

Pupil 

Activity 

Act ivity 

American  History 

95 

5 

Ancient  History 

95 

5 

Ancient  History 

45 

55 

Ancient  History 

35 

65 

Civics 

90 

10 

Civics 

95 

5 

Civic* 

89 

11 

Civics 

92 

8 

English  I 

85 

15 

English  I 

80 

20 

English  II 

67 

33 

English  II 

80 

20 

English  III 

85 

15 

Geometry 

67 

33 

Algebra 

50 

50 

French  I 

60 

40 

French  I 

55 

45 

French  II 

90 

10 

Botany 

87 

13 

1527 

473 

The  average  for  the  series  shows  that  the  teacher  activity  is  76.35 
per  cent  and  the  pupil  activity  is  23.65  per  cent,  which  means  that  in  twenty 
classes  selected  at  random  in  three  high  schools  more  than  76  per  cent  of 
the  oral  expression  is  that  of  the  teacher  and  less  than  24  per  cent  of  the 
oral  expression  is  divided  among  twenty  to  thirty  pupils  in  the  class  room. 

Not  much  can  be  expected  from  pupils  by  way  of  effective  expression 
if  the  teacher  constantly  deprives  them  of  the  use  of  the  vernacular.  "The 
problem  of  education, ’•  says  Dewey,  "is  to  direct  pupils  in  oral  and  written 
speech  used  primarily  for  social  and  practical  needs,  so  that  gradually  it  shall 
become  a conscious  tool  of  conveying  knowledge  and  assisting  thought. ”1 

Effectiveness  and  leadership  in  social  life  depend  upon  the  ability  to 


1.  Dewey,  John,  How  We  Think,  Chap. XIII. 


15 

express  one's  self  adequately.  Every  student  should,  therefore,  have  incentives 
and  opportunities  for  oral  expression.  What  chance  can  there  be  for  orderly 
association  and  a deep,  accurate  impression  of  ideas  or  for  oral  expression  if 
the  teacher  monopolizes  the  recitation  period  by  doing  more  than  76  per  cent 
of  the  work  while  the  pupils  do  less  than  24  per  cent? 

The  one  form  of  dialectic  method  is  the  question  method  associated 
with  an  old  Greek  philosopher,  Socrates,  born  about  470  B.C.  By  this  method  the 
immortal  Greek  teacher  led  his  pupils  inductively,  step  by  step,  into  the  new 
realms  of  knowledge  without  telling  them  the  facts  or  principles  involved.  By 
such  method  he  not  only  secured  to  them  the  desired  knowledge,  but  he  trained 
them  to  become  independent  thinkers  and  investigators. 

The  time-long  method  of  questioning  given  to  the  teaching  profession 
by  Socrates  is  still  to  be  recommended  to  all,  though  it  has  its  shortcomings. 1 
The  Socratic  method  gets  its  virtue,  in  fact,  almost  entirely  from  the  skill 
with  which  it  is  used. 

The  following  extract  from"Memorabilia"2  is  a conversation  between 
Socrates  and  Euthydemus.  Here  the  salient  features  of  the  Socratic  method 
appear: 

Socrates:  "As  you  wish  to  be  the  head  of  a democratic  government  you, 
doubtless,  know  what  a democracy  is?" 

"Certainly,"  said  he. 

"Do  you  think  it  possible  to  know  what  a democracy  is  without 
knowing  what  the  common  people  (Demos)  is?" 

"No,  indeed." 

"And  what  do  you  consider  the  Demos  to  be?" 

"I  consider  it  to  be  the  poorer  class  of  citizens*."* 

1.  Jones, Gilbert  H. , Education  in  Theory  and  Practice,  p.299. 

2.  Xenophon,  Memorabilia,  Book. If,  Ch.2. 


. 


, . 


V 


16 


"Bo  you  know,  then,  who  are  the  poor?" 

"How  can  I help  knowing  that?" 

"You  also  know  who  are  the  rich?" 

"Just  as  well  as  I know  who  are  the  poor." 

"Which  sort  of  persons  do  you  call  poor  and  which  sort  rich?" 

"I  consider  as  poor  those  who  have  not  the  things  which  are  necessary 
for  life;  those  who  have  more  than  sufficient  I consider  rich." 

"Have  you  ever  noticed  that  to  some  who  have  very  small  means,  those 
means  are  not  only  sufficient  but  that  they  even  save  from  them  while 
to  others  very  large  fortunes  are  not  sufficient?" 

"I  have, indeed,  noticed  it,"  said  Euthydemus,  "for  I have  known  some 
princes  who  have  been  driven  by  poverty  to  commit  injustice  like  the 
poorest  people." 

"Then,"  said  Socrates,  "if  such  is  the  case  we  must  place  such  princes 
among  the  Demos,  and  those  who  have  but  little,  if  they  are  good 
managers,  we  must  place  among  the  rich." 

"My  own  ignorance,"  said  Euthydemas,  "forces  me  to  admit  even  this;  and 
I am  wondering  whether  I had  not  better  be  silent;  for  I seem  to  know 
absolutely  nothing." 

The  foregoing  lines  show  conclusively  that  the  aim  of  Socrates  is  to 
deprive  the  mind  of  its  prejudices  by  stripping  it  of  its  contents,  to  show  what 
little  it  contains  and  to  create  in  the  mind  a desire  for  new  knowledge.  It 
stimulates  the  mind  to  think  for  itself.  The  method  as  it  reveals  itself  from 
the  extract  is  to  be  condemned  in  that  it  is  not  effective  in  presenting  the 
truth  but  puts  the  mind  only  in  a position  to  receive  the  truth,  whereupon  it 
must  go  off  in  search  for  it.  Socrates  placed  a premium  upon  telling  his  pupils 


nothing, 


. 


' 


. 


. 


17 


Present  day  methods  In  questioning  do  not  aim  to  stop  just  at  the 
point  where  the  mind  is  in  a receptive  mood  for  the  truth.  They  not  only  create 
a conscious  need  for  the  truth  but  they  must  supply  it.  Questions,  to  be  effect- 
ive, must  come  from  those  who  know  the  psychological  laws  of  association  and 
suggestion  as  well  as  the  laws  of  the  mind  in  general.  The  questioner  must  know 
the  subject  matter  both  in  part  and  in  its  entirety  and  the  relation  which  the 
part  bears  to  the  whole. 

From  the  quotation  the  writer  has  noted  that  the  reciprocal  action 
between  the  teacher  and  pupil  is  tinged  with  Socratic  irony,  with  the  haughty 
intellectual  Athenians  such  irony  was  necessary,  perhaps  to  break  down  their 
pride  in  order  to  make  them  willing  to  learn,  and  with  some  of  the  conceited 
pupils  of  the  present  day,  a teacher  might  use  it  sparingly  with  advantage.  The 
Socratic  method  of  the  modern  day  has  come  to  have  a more  sympathetic  reciprocal 
action  between  teacher  and  pupil  with  less  of  the  particular  Socratic  irony. 
Pupils  are  usually  willing  to  learn  without  being  publicly  humiliated  and  ridicul- 
ed. A very  helpful  suggestion  from  the  foregoing  conversation  between  Socrates 
and  Euthedymus  can  be  drawn  from  the  fine  analysis  that  the  Greek  teacher  makes 
of  his  subject.  Each  question  covers  but  little  ground,  yet  is  of  dynamic  impor- 
tance from  its  relation  to  the  whole  series. 

The  famous  Socratic  method  is  simply  the  question-answer  method  applied 
to  teaching  new  truths  by  a series  of  skillful  questions  calculated  to  call 
forth  what  the  pupil  already  knows,  lead  him  on  to  new  knowledge  without  actually 
telling  the  youth  anything. 

For  Socrates  there  was  some  justification  in  adhering  so  rigidly  to  the 
principle  of  telling  nothing.  He  had  the  theory  that  all  knowledge  was  only  a 
remembering  of  things  that  had  been  known  in  some  former  existence  and  that  the 
pupil  was  not  conscious  of  it  until  a master  drew  it  out.  Given  certain  facts 
in  the  minds  of  the  pupil,  the  teacher  who  knows  how  the  mind  works  can  elicit 


, 


. 

. 


, 


. 


. 


18 


certain  relations  among  these  facts.  The  fact  must  be  in  the  mind  before  it 
can  be  elicited.  The  important  thing  for  the  teacher  to  know  is  what  can  be 
elicited  or  what  must  be  told  or  studied. 

To  tell  the  pupil  nothing  is  a dangerous  pitfall  of  the  Socratic  method 
Some  judgments  are  not  worth  developing;  they  may  better  be  stated  clearly  and 
tersely.  According  to  Dewey, * there  must  be  data  at  command  to  supply  the  con- 
sideration required  in  dealing  with  the  specific  difficulty.  "The  material  of 
thinking  is  not  thoughts,  but  actions,  facts,  events  and  the  relation  of  things." 

Data  must  be  at  hand;  thinking  cannot  go  on  in  a perfect  vacuum. 
Memory,  observation,  reading  and  communication  are  all  avenues  of  supplying 
data.  When  all  other  avenues  of  supplying  data  fail,  coaraunicat ion  on  the  part 
of  tne  teacher  is  commendable. 

3 

"There  is  a vast  difference  between  telling  and  teaching,"  says  DeGarmc 
In  genuine  teaching  we  must  see  that  knowledge  is  so  acquired  that  it  may  be  a 
real  possession,  and  we  must  see  that  the  mind  of  the  learner  is  active  enough 
to  perceive  and  feel  the  significance  of  what  he  has  learned.  This  means  that 
the  new  lesson  must  be  so  associated  with  related  knowledge  already  acquired, 
and  it  means  that  the  principles  underlying  the  new  facts  must  be  fully  ap- 
preciated through  actual  thinking.  For  knowledge  of  any  kind  to  be  scientific 
must  become  subject  to  laws  and  principles  which  are  seen  to  be  independent  of 
the  opinions  of  individuals.  "If  there  were  still  opinions  about  the  laws  of 
the  multiplication  table,  we  should  have  no  science  of  mathematics."  Socrates 
used  the  question-answer  method  with  his  pupils  to  get  at  the  truth  of  things. 
Being  able  to  ask  questions  and  to  use  the  answers,  he  soon  sifted  out  those 
opinions  that  were  self-contradictory.  In  this  way  he  was  able  to  reduce  ex- 
perience to  rule  and  principle. 

1.  Dewey, John,  Democracy  and  Education,  p.184,  1916. 

2.  DeSarmo, Charles,  Interest  and  Education,  p.153,  1902. 

3.  Ibid. . p. 174. 


F. 

. 


. 


. 


. c > 


• . • • 

. 

» • 


19 


This  feature  of  the  Socratic  method,  of  leading  pupils  inductively  to 
feel  and  perceive  the  significance  of  what  he  has  learned,  might  well  be  incor- 
porated into  the  modern  day  teaching.  It  is  outstandingly  the  most  important 
and  the  most  promising  of  results  in  Algebra,  physics,  botany,  chemistry  and 
foreign  languages  because  these  subjects  present  multitudinous  cases  of  like 
kind  from  which  pupils  may,  by  skillful  questioning  of  the  teacher,  formulate 
their  own  principles,  formulae,  laws  and  rules.  To  illustrate,  we  might  suggest 
the  square  of  the  binomial,  x+y.  When  the  pupil  has  had  sufficient  experience  in 
multiplying  such  simple  types  of  binomials  he  soon  acquires  knowledge  that  is 
a real  possession  - he  discovers  the  rule:  that  the  square  of  the  first  and  the 

square  of  the  second  plus  twice  their  roots  is  always  the  result  of  such  type 
of  binomial. 

Pupils  often  carry  away  notions  and  impressions  that  are  erroneous 
and  exceedingly  stupid.  An  efficient  plan  is  to  subject  the  pupil  to  a series 
of  questions  which  will  reduce  his  misconception  to  an  evident  absurdity  and  thus 
convince  him  of  his  error.  The  following  lines  will  illustrate: 

T.  What  is  a rectangle? 

P.  A four-sided  figure. 

T.  (Teacher  places  on  the  board  a trapezium)  Is  that  a rectangle? 

P.  No.  A rectangle  must  have  its  opposite  sides  equal. 

T.  (Teacher  draws  a rhombus)  Is  this  a rectangle? 

P.  No,  the  lines  must  be  straight  so  as  to  form  right  angles. 

The  general  criticism  against  the  Socratic  method  is  that  it  is 
altogether  too  destructive.  It  breaks  down  the  misconception  by  showing  its 
limitation  - it  forces  the  mind  to  think  along  a negative  rather  than  a positive 


line 


. . 


. 


20 

The  Socratic  method, undoubtedly,  has  Its  weakness  and  limitations; 
but  the  essence  of  the  whole  method,  that  is  most  worthy  of  consideration  for  the 
modern  teacher,  is  the  fact  that  it  is  stimulative  to  independent  thinking. 

The  question-answer  method  loses  its  fruitfulness  when  it  is  used  to  bring  out 
in  the  class  room  only  the  results  of  the  pupil's  study.  Very  frequently  the 
whole  recitation  consists  of  rapid  fire  questions  of  narrow  scope  as; 

1.  Who  is  Alexander? 

2.  What  age  was  he  when  his  father  died? 

3.  Who  was  his  father?  What  did  he  do? 

4.  What  famous  book  did  Alexander  admire? 

5.  Who  taught  him  to  trace  his  ancestry  to  Aeneas? 

6. .What  was  the  name  of  the  famous  horse  of  Alexander? 

7.  What  incident  is  connected  with  Bucephalus? 

8.  Who  was  the  teacher  of  Alexander? 

9.  What  did  Alexander  learn  from  Philip? 

10.  How  old  was  he  when  the  power  passed  into  his  hands? 

Such  procedure  is  time  consuming,  it  fails  to  bring  the  subject  matter  before 
the  class  in  connected  units  and  neglects  absolutely  in  training  the  pupils  in 
the  habits  of  becoming  thinkers  and  investigators.  A better  question  would  be: 
What  incidents  in  the  youth  of  Alexander  foretell  his  coming  greatness? 

Supplementary  to  the  question-answer  method  is  the  topical  method. 

This  method  requires  more  mastery  and  independence  of  thought  on  the  part  of  the 
pupil.  He  must  depend  upon  his  own  organization  of  thought  and  his  own  powers 
of  expressioh.  If  skillfully  used  this  method  gives  an  excellent  opportunity  to 
add  social  incentives  in  some  degree  lacking  in  other  methods. 

Stern*  in  his  experiment  with  ninety  pupils  in  studying  a lesson  on 
the  Gulanas  in  South  America  found  a great  difference  in  the  psychic  activities 
in  the  Bericht  (spontaneous  topical  reports)  and  the  Verhor  (question  answer 

jyp 

report).  The  former  was  good  in  quality  but  small  in  because  the  vague,  uncer- 
tain and  ambiguous  ideas  were  retained  in  subjectivity;  while  the  VerhOr  was 

1.  Yamada,  Soshichi,  The  Study  of  Questioning,  Ped.  Seminary,  Vol.20,p. 129. 


, 

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. 


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21 


wide  In  range  but  poor  In  quality  because  the  purpose  of  the  VerhOr  or  question 
was  to  open  up  the  storehouse  of  latent  ideas  which  otherwise  lay  submerged.  Many 
of  the  answers  were  erroneous  due  to  the  suggested  influence  caused  by  narrowing 
the  conscious  field.  Hence  the  VerhOr  was  wide  in  range  but  poor  in  quality. 
Therefore,  both  the  question-answer  method  and  the  topical  method  should  go  hand 
in  hand;  not  to  be  taken  separately  to  determine  the  mental  status  of  a pupil  to 
direct  the  thought  processes  toward  independent  thinking  and  to  cultivate  the 
fine  art  of  expression. 

"The  question-answer  method  is  not  the  only  method  of  imparting  in- 
struction, it  is  perhaps  the  most  important." 

I submit  the  following  stenographic  reports  in  Algebra  and  history 
because  I have  observational  data  from  two  teachers  in  each  subject: 

Algebra  I. 

Text,  Hawke s-Luby-T out on,  page  28  and  29. 

Aim:  To  complete  the  factoring  of  a perfect  square  trinomial  and  begin  the 

factoring  of  the  difference  of  two  perfect  squares. 

Teacher  - Our  assignment  today  was  all  of  the  problems  from  1-20  on  page  128. 

Wasn’t  it  John?  Did  anyone  have  any  trouble  with  problems  today? 

Teacher  - Multiply:  (a+b)2.  (a_b)2;  (a-2b)2;  ( (a+b)  - l)2. 

Francis  - a2+2ab+b2;  (a2-2ab+b2);  a2-4ab+4a2;  (a+b)2-2(a+b)+l). 

Teacher  - We  shall  have  a brief  quiz  today.  Hands  out  papers;  writes  on  board. 
Factor: 

(1.)  a2  - 2ab  + b2;  (2.)  a2+2ab+b2; 

($. ) 4-4x+x2  (4.)  9x2-12  xy+4y2 

(5.)  25x2+30xy+9x2  ( ) 36m2+26mn+9n2 

(7.)  x2*— 14  xa  yb+49y2b  (8.)  a2n-12aa+36. 

(9.)  9+6  (a+x)  +(a+x)2 

(10.)  (a+b)2-6(a+b)  (c-d)+9  (c-d)2. 

Teacher  - head  answer  of  problems  - Mary,  Helen,  James,  Junior  read  in  turn.  Each 
time  teacher  repeats  answer  and  asks,  "any  question?" 


1.  Bagley,  William  Chandler, The  Educative  Process,  p.275,  1915. 


22 

Teacher  - What  .mist  one  always  do  before  solving  such  type  of  problem? 

After  taking  out  a common  factor,  of  course? 

Helen  - One  must  see  whether  the  trinomial  contains  two  perfect  squares. 

Teacher  - Tes,  to  see  whether  the  trinomial  contains  two  perfect  squares.  I 

wonder  v/hether  that  is  all  one  must  do?  Pauses  awhile,  "Well,  class, 
can't  anyone  tell  me  more  about  this  type  of  problem  except  what 
Helen  said  that  it  must  contain  two  perfect  squares?" 

Junior  - It  must  contain  another  term. 

Teacher  - Certainly,  it  must  contain  another  term  or  it  would  not  be  a trinomial 
would  it?  What  is  a trinomial.  Junior?  (Irrelevant) 

Junior  - Three  terms. 

Teacher  - A binomial? 

Junior  - Two  terms. 

Teacher  - New  define  a polynomial? 

Ruth-  An  algebraic  expression  of  several  terms. 

Teacher  - Yes,  now  what  is  a factor  since  that  is  what  we  are  studying. 

Harriet  - One  of  the  equal  parts  of  a product.  Yes  factoring  is  whatv/e  are 
studying,  isn't  it? 

Teacher-  Now  then,  I wonder  who  in  the  class  is  keen-minded  enough  to  tell  me 
just  what  a trinomial  must  contain  to  be  a perfect  square  trinomial. 

Teacher  - Writes  a2+2ab+b2  on  board,  and  puts  a circle  around  2ab. 

James  - Two  perfect  squares  and  the  middle  term  must  be  twice  the  products 
of  the  square  roots. 

Teacher  - Certainly  a perfect  square  trinomial  must  contain  two  perfect  squares 

and  the  middle  term  must  always  be  the  products  of  their  square  roots. 
Is  there  any  question? 

Teacher  - For  tomorrow  we  shall  take  all  the  problems  on  page  29  down  to 

problem  12  in  the  second  exercise.  Is  there  any  question?  These 
problems  are  of  a different  type  of  problem.  I will  show  you  how  tc 
solve  this  kind  of  problem.  These  are  called  the  factoring  the 
difference  of  twT0  squares.  Writes  on  board: 
a2-b2=  (a+b)  (a-b) 

You  all  know  that  a2-b2  is  made  up  of  what  tv;o  factors?  (a+b)  (a-b); 
so  the  principle  for  the  solution  of  this  type  is  to  take  the  square 
roots  of  each  square  and  connect  one  set  by  a + sign  and  the  other  by 
a minus  sign.  Is  there  any  question? 

Bell  rings. 


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23 


The  same  Algebra  lesson  was  taught  by  another  teacher. 

Aim:  To  teach  the  difference  of  two  perfect  squares. 

Teacher  - If  you  have  solved  all  the  problems  assigned  and  there  are  no  questions 
on  the  factoring  of  a perfect  square  trinomial  you  may  hand  in  papers. 

Alice  - I can’t  factor  - 4x2+9y2-  6xy. 

Teacher  - Writes  on  board: 

a-2ab+b2  and  a2+b2-2ab.  What  difference  in  the  two  perfect  square 
trinomials? 

Alice  - No  difference  except  that  -2ab  in  the  last  one  is  not  in  the  middle. 

If  that  makes  no  difference  I can  solve  -4x2+9y2-6xy. 

Teacher  - It  makes  no  difference.  Takes  up  papers. 

Teacher  points  to  problems  written  on  beard: 

a+b  x-y  m+n  r+s  a+2  5a-6bc 

a-b  x+y  m-n  r-B  a-2  5a+6bc 

Teacher  - Read  the  product,  Charles. 

Charles  - a2-b2;  x^-y2;  m2-n2;  r2-s2;  a2-4;  25a2-36b2c2. 

Teacher  - What  factors  make  up  a2-b2;  x2-^  ; m2-n2  etc. 

Ruth-  (a+b)  (a-b);  (x-y)  (x+y);  (m+n)  (m-n). 

Teacher  - How  would  you  proceed  with  any  problem  of  the  a2-b2type?  George. 

George  - (No  response). 

Teacher  - Turn  to  page  29  and  tell  what  factors  make  up  the  difference  of  two 
perfect  squares. 

George  - a^-x2-(a+x)(a-x) ; m2-n2=(m+n)  ( m-n) ; (a2-4)  »(a+2)  (a-2).  1-25  x2= 

( l+5x)  ( l-5x). 

and  so  on  various  members  of  class  factor  26  such  simple  types  of  the  difference 
of  two  squares. 

Teacher  - Now,  how  would  you  factor  any  problem  that  ia  the  difference  of  two 
par feet  squares? 

George  - I should  take  the  square  roots  of  the  perfect  squares  and  take  the 
sum  of  the  roots  for  one  factor  and  the  difference  of  the  roots  for 
the  other. 

2 2 

Teacher  - Well  said.  Jamee,  step  to  board  and  write  two  problems  of  a -b  type. 


r 


24 


James  - 
Teacher 
Class  - 
Teacher 

Louise  ■ 
Teacher 

Louise  • 
Teacher 
Alice  - 

Teacher 

Bell. 

out. 


Writes  p2-q2;  x2-y2. 

- Can  you  give  factors  of  each  of  these? 

All  assent. 

- Writes  on  board:  (p-q)2-  (x-y)2  This  problem  looks  different  but  you 
see  whether  you  can  discover  the  a -b2  type.  Waits  for  reaction. 

What  part  corresponds  to  a2  Louise? 

p 2 a 

‘ (p-^)2  corresponds  to  a2  and  (x-y)  corresponds  to  b . 

- Will  you  write  and  b2  over  the  corresponding  parts  of  the  new  prob- 
lem, Louise? 

• lpa2-q)2  - xb2-y)2 

- How  would  you  factor  part  that  corresponds  to  a2? 

(p-q)t(x-y)  (P-q)  - (x-y). 

p-q+x-y  p-q-x+y. 

- Problem  10  on  page  29  is  like  this  one.  Problem  3, 4, 5, 6 have  only  one 
binomial  which  is  a perfect  square.  Solve  12  problems  for  tomorrow 

in  the  written  exercise  and  two  original  ones  one  of  which  is  the 
difference  of  two  binomial  squares. 


In  the  first  lesson  the  aim  was  clearly  defined  but  not  well  carried 
The  questions  were  colorless,  insipid,  time-consuming  and  irrelevant. 

1.  What  must  one  always  do  with  such  type  of  problem? 

2.  I wonder  whether  that  is  all  that  one  must  do? 

(Both  are  insipid  and  colorless). 

How  would  you  factor  a perfect  square  trinomial? 

(A  much  better  question.) 

3.  I wonder  who  in  the  class  is  keen-minded  enough  to  tell  me  just 
what  a trinomial  must  contain  to  be  a perfect  square  trinomial? 

4.  Can't  anyone  tell  me  any  more  about  this  type  of  problem  except 
what  Helen  said,  that  it  must  contain  two  perfect  squares? 

(Both  3 and  4 are  verbose  and  time-consuming). 

What  is  the  test  of  a trinomial  that  is  a perfect  square? 

(Much  improved  over  3 and  4). 

5.  What  is  a trinomial? 

What  is  a binomial? 

What  is  a polynomial? 

What  is  a factor? 

(These  are  irrelevant  to  point  at  issue). 

The  whole  lesson  was  conducted  in  a desultory  manner  with  no  special 


attempt  on  the  selective  emphasis.  The  development  of  the  new  type  of  factoring 
problem  for  the  succeeding  day  was  done  too  speedily  to  be  very  promising  in 


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. 


. 


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25 


results.  The  same  lesson  presented  by  another  teacher  was,  indeed,  fruitful  in 
its  results  because  the  aim  was  definite,  specific  and  well  carried  out.  The 
teacher  showed  great  skill  in  so  directing  the  questions  so  as  to  make  the 
pupils  by  independent  thinking  arrive  at  the  facts  and  principles.  Every 
question  had  its  center  of  gravity  in  the  stimulation  of  thought.  No  irrelevant 
questions  as  what  is  a trinomial,  a binomial,  a factor  were  allowed  to  turn  the 
attention  from  the  fixed  goal.  The  assignment  too,  was  not  slighted  but  made  a 
real  teaching  opportunity.  The  teacher  was  not  content  with  giving  a few 
brief  and  ill-considered  remarks  in  regard  to  the  advanced  work  but  he  cleared 
up  those  points  which  were  likely  to  cause  difficulty  and  disappointment.  This 
development  of  the  new  lesson  he  did  inductively,  step  by  step,  very  much  like 
Socrates  would  have  done. 

Stenographic  History  .Report 

Aim:  To  give  pupils  an  insight  into  the  career  of  Julius  Caesar. 

Text  (Breasted  pages  584-596). 

T.  Who  was  Julius  Caesar? 

P.  He  was  a great  man. 

T.  When  was  he  born  and  what  relation  was  he  to  Marius? 

P.  100  B.C.  and  he  was  a nephew  of  Marius. 

T.  What  party  did  he  favor? 

P.  The  Marius  party. 

T.  How  was  Caesar  set  back  by  the  conspiracy  of  Catiline? 

P.  Catiline  gathered  around  him  a large  body  of  aristocrats  and  tried  to  seixe 
the  government.  (Does  not  answer  the  question). 

T.  Was  he  successful? 

P.  No. 

T.  Why  not? 

P.  Bawled  out  by  Cicero. 

T.  Yes,  exposed  by  Cicero. 


, : 


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<j  , . 


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26 


T.  How  did  Cicero  distinguish  himself  by  the  conspiracy  of  Catiline? 

P.  He  gave  an  oration  against  Catiline  and  denounced  him. 

T.  Yes,  his  brilliant  oratory  and  his  administrative  ability  won  him  highest 
office  of  Rome.  He  attached  himself  to  the  Marian  party  who  sought  justice 
for  the  murders  and  confiscations  of  Sulla.  TThen  these  men  of  the  aristocrat 
ic  party  now  out  of  work  were  planning  to  kill  the  magistrates  and  seize  the 
government  Cicero  detected  their  plot  and  denounced  Catiline.  By  this  act 
Cicero  won  the  title  "Savior  of  his  Country." 

T.  What  was  the  policy  of  Cicero?  I mean,  just  what  form  of  government  did  he 
favor? 

P.  He  favored  the  Marius  party  and  the  rule  of  the  Senate. 

T.  Certainly.  He  was  strongly  attached  to  the  Republic.  Hence  he  attempted  to 
strengthen  the  republic  by  restoring  the  senators.  Such  policy  as  advocated 
by  Cicero  even  if  practicable  could  not  long  have  saved  the  aristocracy  could 
it? 

P.  No. 

T.  Why  not? 

P.  Senate  was  too  weak. 

T.  Tes,  the  Roman  republic  had  outgrown  its  usefulness.  The  corruption  of  the 
populace  at  the  capital  had  made  statesmen,  however  grand,  appear  strongly 
dwarfed  and  out  of  place;  for  the  age  of  the  generals  had  come. 

T.  Who  was  a general  who  had  attained  power? 

P.  Pompey. 

T.  How  did  he  distinguish  himself? 

P.  Cleared  the  Mediterranean  Sea  of  pirates  and  made  Syria  a Roman  Province. 

T,  How  is  Pompey  brought  in  oontact  with  Julius  Caesar? 

P.  Pompey  married  Caesar’s  daughter. 


* 


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27 


T.  Yes,  was  that  important? 

P.  No. 

T.  Yes,  for  Caesar  and  Pompey  were  good  friends  as  long  as  Julia  lived.  She 
kept  peace  between  them,  hut  her  death  broke  the  bond  between  them. 

3?.  What  does  triumvirate  mean? 

P.  Three  men. 

T.  Who  were  the  three  men? 

P.  Pompey  and  Caesar  and  

T.  Crassus. 

T.  What  was  the  purpose  of  this  alliance? 

P.  Pompey  wanted  some  land  for  his  array  and  the  Senate  would  not  favor  him  much 
so  Caesar  wanted  to  become  consul  and  by  this  triumvirate  these  men  agreed 
to  work  for  each  other’s  benefit. 

T.  Why  did  Caesar,  Crassus  and  Pompey  make  a good  combination? 

P.  Because  Pompey  and  Caesar  were  well-liked  and  Crassus  had  much  money. 

T.  Caesar  had  commanding  intelligence,  Pompey  had  popularity  and  Crassus  had 
weal th. 

T.  What  office  did  Caesar  gain  after  his  consulship  in  59  B.C.? 

P.  Went  to  Caul  and  Illyricum  as  proconsul. 

T.  7/hat  is  the  duty  of  a proconsul? 

P.  To  act  as  a governor  or  a consul  in  a province. 

T.  How  is  Caesar  connected  with  the  Gallic  wars? 

P.  He  subdued  the  Cauls  and  drove  back  the  powerful  Germans . 

T.  7/hy  are  they  so  important? 

P.  Important  because  Caesar  wrote  a historical  account  of  these  Wars.  These 
books  are  called  the  Commentaries . 

P.  (Offers  suggestion).  They  were  important  because  Caesar  made  the  Rhine  River 


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28 


the  "boundary  and  made  all  the  land  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  a Roman  province. 

T.  How  long  did  Gallic  Wars  last? 

P.  Don't  know. 

T.  58  - 50  B.C.  - how  long? 

P.  Eight  years. 

T.  Yes,  during  these  eight  years  Caesar  distinguished  himself  as  a soldier.  When 
he  met  the  Hervii,  a powerful  Belgic  tribe,  he  met  much  opposition  but  he 
defeated  them.  Next  year  he  met  the  Veneti,  who  were  a maritime  people. 

They  put  to  sea  with  their  clumsy  flat-bottomed  boats  with  leather  sacks. 
Caesar  made  little  progress  against  them  until  his  small  li^at  fleet  met  their 
bulky  navy  in  open  sea.  With  scythes  fastened  to  long  poles  they  cut  the 
energy's  tackle  so  as  to  disable  his  ships.  Victory  was  easy  then. 

T.  How  did  the  news  of  the  Gallic  Wars  affect  the  Senate  at  Home? 

P.  Senate  was  jealous  and  afraid,  too,  because  they  thought  Caesar  would  bring 
his  army  and  seize  the  government  like  Sulla  did. 

T.  Y/hat  office  was  Caesar  seeking  after  his  proconsulship  in  Gaul? 

P.  Consul. 

T.  How  did  he  gain  that  office? 

P.  Drove  out  Pompey. 

T.  What  is  the  significance  of  the  crossing  of  the  ftubicon? 

P.  Senate  told  .aesar  to  disband  his  army  but  he  took  his  array  from  the  province 
into  Italy  to  the  Hubicon.  This  was  an  illegal  act. 

T.  What  became  of  Pompey? 

P.  Driven  out  by  Caesar;  he  went  to  Greece  then  to  Sgypt. 

T.  Describe  the  character  of  Caesar. 

P.  He  was  fearless  because  he  was  captured  by  pirates  once  and  held  for  a ransom. 

Because  Caesar  was  clever  and  fearless  of  them  they  let  him  go. 

T.  What  other  characteristics  of  Caesar? 


29 


P.  He  was  extravagant  because  he  gave  gladiatorial  combats. 

T.  What  other  characteristics? 

P. Ambitious . 

T.  Yes , what  other  interests  did  he  have  besides  being  a general  and  a statesman? 
P.  Gladiatorial  combats . 

T.  Yes,  he  was  interested  in  architecture,  astronomy,  oratory  and  writing  of 
history.  You  remember  how  he  built  the  bridge  across  the  Rhine,  how  he  re- 
formed the  Calendar,  delivered  his  Aunt  Julia’s  funeral  oration  and  wrote 
his  Commentaries. 

T.  Now,  class,  what  do  all  these  facts  show  about  the  character  of  Julius  Caesar? 
P.  That  he  could  do  anything  that  he  wanted  to. 

T.  Yes,  that  he  was  many-sided. 

T.  Here  is  a picture  of  Julius  Caesar.  What  are  the  outstanding  physical  features? 

How  would  you  describe  his  eyes,  nose,  forehead. 

P.  His  nose  is  long  and  sharp. 

T.  His  forehead  is  

P.  — broad,  and  his  eyes  are  grey. 

T.  No,  he  has  piercing  black  eyes,  according  to  Botsford. 

Well,  his  massive  brow  and  his  nose  shaped  like  an  eagle's  beak  show  great 
intellect  combined  with  force. 

T.  What  evidence  have  you  that  he  had  great  power  of  concentration? 

P.  While  on  Gallic  Wars  he  used  to  write  his  book  while  he  was  resting. 

T.  Also,  he  used  to  be  able  to  dictate  six  letters  to  his  stenographers  at  one 
time.  That  would  take  high  power  of  concentration  to  do  that  wouldn't  it? 

T.  What  offices  did  g&esar  gain  in  Rome? 

P.. Consul,  dictator. 

T.  What  other  one  that  was  very  honorary? 

P.  Pont  if  ex  Llaximus. 


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30 


T.  What  new  name  did  he  assume? 

P.  Imperator. 

T.  As  a king  in  disguise  or  king  under  the  name  of  imperator,  how  did  he  adjust 
evils  in  provinces? 

P.  Put  in  new  governors. 

T.  How  did  he  adjust  the  taxes  in  the  provinces? 

P.  Abolished  tax-farming. 

T.  How  did  he  improve  Home? 

P.  Made  a calendar  and  built  new  roads. 

T.  Criticise l 

P.  Reformed  the  calendar  which  was  like  the  Greek  Moon  Calendar  and  he  planned 
to  rebuild  Home  but  he  got  killed  too  soon  to  carry  out  his  many  plans. 

T.  How  was  Caesar  warned  of  the  lurking  assassins? 

P.  The  soothsayer  told  him,  "to  beware  of  the  Ides  of  March." 

T.  Tell  how  the  warning  came  true. 

P.  He  was  stabbed  by  the  conspirators,  Cassius  and  Brutus  in  the  Senate  house. 

He  fell  with  twenty-three  wounds. 

T.  Do  you  think  that  they  were  justified  in  killing  Caesar? 

Bell. 

Same  lesson  Breasted  Ancient  Times,  page  584-596. 

Aim:  To  show  that  Monarchy  was  inevitable  in  50  B.C.  and  how  Caesar  worked 

to  that  end. 

Teacher  writes  on  board: 

triumvirate,  proconsul,  consul,  dictator,  pontifex,  Maximus,  Commentaries. 
Teacher  points  to  each  one  of  these  for  an  explanation  from  pupils. 
Whenever  a satisfactory  answer  is  submitted  she  silently  passes  on  to 


the  next 


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31 


Willard  - Triumvirate  means  an  alliance  of  three  men  who  agree  to  work  together. 

Helen  - Consul  is  one  of  two  magistrates  who  has  command  of  the  army  and  has 
the  rignt  to  act  as  a judge. 

Louise  - proconsul  is  a magistrate  who 

Teacher  - 7/hat  does  proconsul  mean  to  you,  Richard? 

Richard  - A magistrate  who  has  power  of  consul  in  province. 

Mary  - Dictator  is  appointed  for  six  months  who  has  complete  control  in  time 
of  great  clanger. 

Francis  - Pontifex  Maximus  is  an  honorary  officer  who  is  at  the  head  of  the 
religion  of  the  empire. 

Anna  - The  Commentaries  are,  well  they  are  the  Murderers  of  Caesar.  Class 
snouts  laughing. 

Teacher  - Oh,  Anna,  you  are  guessing. 

Several  questions  further  "bring  out  that  they  are  Caesar's  narrative 
accounts  of  his  Gallic  Wars. 

Pupil  - 7/hen  did  Caesar  write  his  Commentaries?  He  was  in  caul  eight  years, 
then  he  had  to  subdue  Pompey  and  then  he  was  murdered? 

Teacher  - Calls  on  pupils.  -They  were  written  while  he  was  in  Gaul  while  he 
was  riding  in  his  palanquin. 

T.  In  what  ways  has  the  Roman  government  shown  its  weakness  since  the  days  of 
the  Gracchi  brothers? 

P.  It  was  weak  and  selfish  and  most  of  the  senators  were  selfish  aristocrats  who 
did  not  want  to  take  care  of  the  crying  needs  of  the  farming  class  and  who 
could  not  remedy  the  piracy  on  sea  or  the  plundering  conditions  in  the  province, 

T.  Why  did  the  Gracchi  brothers  fail  to  change  the  government? 

P.  Because  they  did  not  have  the  support  of  the  people  and  because  they  made  laws 
favoring  the  poor  people  and  the  Italian  Allies  the  Senate  became  angry. 

They  really  did  not  do  anything  worth  while. 


I 


32 

T.  Any  criticism? 

P.  Yes,  they  did,  they  made  a few  people  think  that  a one-man  power  would  he 
better  than  a whole  hunch  of  "crooks"  like  was  in  the  Senate. 

T.  Teacher  assents  - Y/hy  did  Llarius  and  Sulla  fail  to  improve  the  Government? 

P.  Marius  and  Sulla  were  too  harsh  and  cruel  - during  their  time  people  were 
murdered  and  killed  for  spite  right  in  market  place. 

T.  True,  hut  how  did  Sulla’s  laws  make  it  possible  for  a noted  general  like 
Pompey  to  secure  the  consulship  in  70  B.C.? 

P.  He  passed  such  stiff  laws  that  nobody  had  no  (teacher:  "nobody  had  any")- 

nobody  had  any  power  but  the  Senate  and  people  promised  Pompey  the  power  if  he 
would  repeal  the  laws  of  Sulla. 

T.  So  you  see  that  such  laws  as  would  give  more  power  to  the  Senate  and  less  to 
the  assemblies  would  mean  greater  disaster.  So  the  past  experience  show  that 
the  Senate  was  an  institution  of  the  past. 

T.  Y/hat  do  you  think  was  the  aim  of  Caesar? 

P.  To  become  king;  win  a great  name  for  himself. 

P.  Other  protest. 

Alice  - I don't  think  he  was  so  selfish.  I am  sure  of  it  because  in  the  play 
"Julius  Caesar"  he  was  offered  the  crown  three  times  and  he  refused  it,  and, 
besides  he  did  so  many  things  by  way  of  sending  money  to  Home  and  by  improv- 
ing the  conditions  in  the  provinces  that  I think  that  he  wanted  to  bring 
about  peace  and  prosperity. 

Pupils  take  issue  — 

Louise  - Yes,  but  in  the  play  of  "Julius  Caesar"  it  says  the  crown  was  offered 
thrice  but  each  time  Caesar  refused  it  gentler  than  the  last.  So  I know 
that  Caesar  wanted  to  be  king.  He  sent  money  to  Home,  too,  but  it  was  for 
public  amusements  and  gladiatorial  combats  so  as  to  keep  Pompey  from 
v/inning  all  the  honor  and  fame. 


. 


' 


. 


. 


. 


33 

Teacher  - How  are  we  to  settle  this  argument? 

Beatrice  -Well,  our  author  says  that  Caesar  was  a great  statesman  and  a man  can 
not  have  such  selfish  interests  if  he  is  a statesman,  so  I think  that 
he  was  working  to  keep  the  Roman  Republic  together. 

Lester  - I agree  with  Louise  that  Caesar  wanted  to  be  king  but  I agree  with 

Alice  in  that  Caesar  was  not  just  seeking  greatness  and  popularity  for 
himself.  I think  that  he  was  so  far  sighted  as  to  see  that  a government 
would  prosper  better  under  a one-man  rule  than  under  a whole  set  of 
selfish  narrow-minded  aristocrats. 

T.  You  have  said  that  well!  Prom  the  days  of  the  Gracchi  brothers  in  133  B.C. 
Rome  was  moving  toward  a monarchy.  But  the  Gracchi  failed;  Marius  and  Sulla 
failed  because  they  attempted  each  in  their  own  way  to  restore  the  Republic. 
A monarch  was  the  only  remedy  for  a decayed,  corrupted  end  weakened  govern- 
ment. 

P.  Don't  we  think  more  of  a republican  government  than  we  do  of  a monarchy? 

T.  Yes,  indeed,  but  class  don't  misunderstand  me.  To  call  a monarchy  right  in 
Caesar's  day  is  not  calling  a monarchy  right  at  all  times.  A Caesar  in  200 
B.C.  would  have  been  criminal  but  in  Caesar's  day  a monarch  was  a blessing. 
Ruin  seemed  lnminent  and  the  change  to  an  imperial  government  restored  pros- 
perity and  staved  off  a final  collapse  for  five  hundred  years. 

T.  Why  did  Caesar,  Pompey  and  Crassus  form  a triumvirate? 

P.  So  they  could  help  each  other. 

T.  Why  did  Pompey  need  help? 

P.  Pompey  had  just  driven  the  pirates  from  the  Mediterranean  Sea  and  had  went 
and  made  (teacher,  "had  gone  to  make")-  had  gone  to  make  Syria  a Reman 
Province.  He  wanted  help  from  the  Senate  but  they  refused. 

T.  Why  would  you  have  been  willing  to  join  in  an  alliance  with  Caesar  and  Crassusl 


- 

- 


- 

4 

■ 


. 


34 


P.  Because  Crassus  was  rich  and  Caesar  was  intelligent. 

T.  How  did  Caesar  distinguish  himself  as  proconsul  in  Gaul  and  Illyricum? 

P.  He  drove  back  a powerful  tribe  of  the  Germans  and  conquered  the  Gauls.  He 
went  to  Great  Britain  too.  He  made  the  Rhine  River  the  northern  boundary. 

T.  Let  us  see  how  we  are  benefited  today  by  Caesar’s  conquest  of  Gaul. 

P.  Hands.  He  wrote  his  commentaries  about  the  Gallic  Wars  so  we  have  something 
to  read  in  our  Latin  classes  today. 

T.  In  what  way  do  you  think  the  Gauls  helped  out  the  Roman  stock  of  people  that 
had  been  weakened  and  crippled  by  long  social  and  civil  wars,  and  proscrip- 
tions? 

P.  The  Gauls  were  strong  and  not  worn  out  so  they  helped  build  up  the  Roman 
people. 

T.  Just  how  could  that  help  us  today? 

P.  The  Romans  could  give  us  better  laws  and  government  than  when  they  were  all 
exhausted  and  weakened  by  wars. 

T.  Just  how  did  Caesar’s  conquests  make  the  spread  of  Christianity  easier? 

P.  No  response. 

T.  What  language  did  the  Gauls  learn? 

P.  Latin  language. 

T.  Now  answer  the  question  about  Christianity. 

P.  Because  of  a common  language  Christianity  could  spread  much  faster  than  if 
the  Gallic  tribes  each  had  a different  language. 

T.  John  Fiske,  the  great  American  historian,  in  speaking  of  the  Gallic  wars  said: 
"We  ought  to  be  thankful  to  Caesar  every  day  that  we  live."  Can  you  give 
two  reasons?  (Think  carefully  how  you  are  going  to  express  yourself. ) 

P.  John  Fiske  thought  that  we  ought  to  be  glad: 

1.  because  Julius  Caesar  captured  the  Gauls  and  made  the  spread  of  christianit; 


easier  and  quicker 


. 


, 

. 

' 


♦ 3 


• ■ 


35 

2.  because  he  allowed  the  Latin  language  to  be  used  by  the  Gauls. 

They  gave  us  much  of  the  Roman  law  and  Roman  customs. 

T.  How  does  Caesar  become  master  of  Rome? 

P.  After  the  Senate  sent  word  to  Caesar  to  disband  his  army  on  the  grounds  that 
he  was  a public  enemy,  but  Caesar  crossed  over  from  the  province  to  the  Rubi- 
con in  Italy  and  said,  "The  die  is  castl"  This  was  against  the  law,  too,  to 
bring  an  army  from  the  province. 

T.  Pompey?  (Technically  a poor  question  yet  effective  here.) 

P.  Oh,  Pompey  was  driven  into  Greece  and  then  to  Egypt.  He  told  the  Senate  that 
the  forces  at  his  command  could  not  hold  Rome  against  Caesar. 

T.  With  Crassus  dead,  and  Pompey  fled  to  Egypt,  Caesar  had  the  mastery. 

P.  The  Senate  elected  him  consul,  dictator  and  Pontifex  Maximus  and  gave  him 
tribunician  power. 

T.  Why  was  it  as  foolish  as  it  was  wicked  to  murder  Caesar? 

Bell. 

In  the  first  report  the  many  questions  calling  for  little  reflection 
were  directed  toward  no  definite  goal.  This,  I believe,  can  be  traced  to  the 
aim  which  was  too  large  in  its  scope  and  too  general.  Every  detail  was  accentuat- 
ed to  the  same  degree.  The  massiveness  of  Caesar’s  brow,  the  color  of  his  eyes, 
the  ability  of  Caesar  to  dictate  to  his  stenographers  six  letters  at  a time  and 
the  follies  of  his  youth  ranged  in  importance  with  Caesar’s  conquest  of  the 
Gauls,  his  mastery  of  Rome  and  his  improvement  in  the  provinces. 

In  the  aecond  report  the  factual  questions  concerning  the  terminology 
of  the  lesson  were  cleared  up  at  the  very  beginning  with  little  activity  on  the 
part  of  the  teacher.  In  fact,  throughout,  the  teacher  stood  on  the  side  line 
and  acted  as  umpire  while  the  class  played  the  game.  The  questions  were  set  up 
for  purposive  thinking  and  aimed  to  bring  out  an  important  fact  rather  than  a 
trivial  one.  The  questions  were  progressive  and  each  one  aimed  at  a definite 


_ 


t 

' 


. 


, 


_ 


36 


goal.  Obviously,  the  teacher  had  In  the  fringe  of  her  consciousness  a very 
definite  and  specific  aim.  Although  the  second  report  was  more  limited  in  its 
content  than  the  first,  I believe  that  the  latter  served  for  greater  independent 
thinking. 


37 


Chapter  IV 

QUANTITY  VERSUS  QUALITY. 

The  number  of  questions  submitted  in  a single  class  period  is  larger 
than  one  would  estimate.  Twenty  stenographic  reports  selected  promiscuously 
showed  that  the  average  number  of  questions  for  a forty-five  minute  period  was 
75.  Pupils,  who  are  held  collectively  to  a performance  during  their  five  or  six 
periods  to  nearly  four  hundred  questions,  supplemented  with  as  many  answers,  are 
undoubtedly  affected  for  better  or  for  worse. 

A very  large  number  of  questions  may  find  justification  occasionally 

in  keeping  pupils  mentally  alert  and  on  the  wing,  but,  as  a daily  class-room 

procedure,  the  multiplicity  of  questions  could  produce  only  unprofitable  results. 

First,  a large  number  of  questions  given  for  a long  duration  of  time  gives  the 

pupils  no  time  for  reflection;  he  cannot  go  very  far  afield  in  his  experiences 

in  order  to  recall  or  associate  his  ideas  in  fruitful  ways.  Second,  it  offers 

no  time  for  the  pupil  to  organize  his  thinking  for  effective  oral  expression. 

Third,  it  does  not  solicit  the  attention  of  individual  with  peculiar  differences. 

The  slow,  timid,  conservative,  or  nervoud  pupil  must  keep  abreast  the  leader  in 

thought  or  fall  by  the  wayside.  Very  often  instead  of  keeping  up  with  the  pace 

set,  participating  in  the  exercise  and  asking  questions,  he  sinks  back  into  his 

seat  and  assumes  an  unpretentious  air.  Fourth,  a large  number  of  questions 

suggests  that  little  effort  is  put  forth  to  teach  boys  and  girls  to  be  self 

reliant  and  independent  workers.  '’There  is  no  time,"  says  Stevens,*  "to  teach 

1.  Stevens,  Romiett,  The  Question  as  a Means  of  Efficiency  in  Instruction, 

1912.  P.26. 


■ 


. 


38 

him  how  to  study;  how  to  organize  subject  matter,  how  to  judge  relative  worths 
of  facts  studied,  and  what  to  memorize. " Fifth,  a large  number  of  questions 
give  rise  to  short  responses  and  comparatively  few  queries  on  the  part  of  the 
pupils.  Short  answers,  however,  are  not  to  be  wholly  condemned  in  themselves 
but  they  disclosed  the  fact  that  the  questions  which  preceded  them  were  too 
limited  in  their  scope  or  too  numerous  to  warrant  a complete  and  well  rounded 
answer.  The  stenographic  reports  showed  that  in  the  cases  where  short,  meaning- 
less answers  predominated,  that  the  questions  were  prolific  and  faulty  in  tech- 
nique. The  teacher  who  concluded  each  interrogation  with  "isn’t  it?",  "Doesn’t 
it?**,  "hasn't  it?",  indicated  careless  preparation  and  careless  thinking.  No 
effort  is  required  for  the  student  either  in  remembering  material,  organizing  it 
or  passing  judgment  on  such  questions  as: 

1.  "An  oligarchical  form  of  government  isn't  it?" 

2.  Anthony  succeeded  in  winning  over  the  people  against  Crassus 
and  Brutus,  didn't  he?" 

3.  George  Eliot  always  makes  her  characters  suffer  in  proportion  to 
their  crime  doesn't  she? 

4.  Describe  Starveling  - you  remember  Starveling  don't  you? 

5.  Sir  Walter  Scott  is  a Scottish  novelist  isn't  he? 

The  relationship  between  the  number  of  questions  asked  by  the  teacher 
and  by  the  pupils  is  exemplified  in  the  following  diagram: 


39 


Ho.  of 
teacher' s 
questions 

Ho.  of 
pupil' s 
questions 

History 

97 

7 

History 

65 

0 

History 

73 

20 

History 

86 

5 

History 

79 

5 

History 

58 

10 

English 

73 

10 

English 

39 

3 

English 

93 

9 

English 

61 

2 

English 

103 

2 

English 

111 

7 

Algebra 

85 

7 

Algebra 

19 

1 

Geometry( development  lessen) 

108 

19 

Geometry 

32 

5 

French 

114 

17 

French 

33 

10 

Botany 

101 

3 

Botany 

89 

7 

1519  149 


Average  75.95  7.45 

The  foregoing  diagram  represents  data  collected  from  twenty  stenographic 
reports  selected  at  random.  It  indicates  that  75.95  questions  are  asked  by  the 
teaohers  and  7.45  questions  are  offered  by  pupils.  To  state  the  facts  more  terse- 


. . 


. 


. 


40 


ly,  the  writer  may  say  that  91.1  per  cent  of  all  questions  asked  is  accredited 
to  the  teacher  and  8.9  per  cent  to  the  pupil. 

Stenographic  report  showing  a large  number  of  questions. 

Aim.  To  study  the  life  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  and  to  determine  why  he  is  such  a 
tremendous  force  in  literature. 

T.  The  significant  movement  of  the  eighteenth  century  is  what? 

P.  Romanticism. 

T.  By  whom  is  romanticism  first  expressed? 

P.  Wordsworth  and  Coleridge. 

T.  Yes,  Wordsworth  and  Coleridge.  The  poetry  of  Wordsworth  and  Coleridge  was 
read  by  whom?  What  was  the  current  opinion  about  their  poetry? 

P.  Too  deep  for  most  folks. 

T.  Yes,  read  by  the  select  few.  How  does  Scott’s  poetry  differ? 

P.  How  do  you  mean  in  structure  o*  in  sneme? 

T.  I mean  as  to  popularity. 

P.  Scott’s  poetry  was  more  popular. 

T.  Why? 

P.  Wrote  interesting  things. 

T.  Yes,  he  wrote  about  very  interesting  things.  He  wrote  about  Crusades, 
Covenanters,  Cavaliers,  Roundhead?,  Papists,  Jews,  Gypsies. 

T.  Compare  him  with  Wordsworth. 

P.  Wordsworth  was  a poet;  Scott  was  a novelist. 

T.  Wordsworth  was  a nature  poet,  Scott  was  a historical  novelist. 

T.  Where  and  when  was  Scott  born? 

P.  1771  in  Edinburgh. 

T.  What  effect  did  his  ancestry  - Just  how  did  his  early  environment  affect  his 
later  career? 

P.  He  was  sick  and  lame. 


, 


41 


T.  Yes,  he  was  sick  and  lame  and  just  how  did  this  fact  help  to  shape  his  future 
life? 

P.  Don’t  know. 

T.  What  kind  of  woman  was  his  grandmother? 

P.  She  knew  a lot  about  legends  and  Border  feuds. 

T • How  did  she  influence  him? 

P.  She  told  him  all  these  tales. 

T.  Yes,  certainly  from  her  wonderful  tales  Scott  developed  that  intensive  love 
of  Scottish  history  and  tradition  which  characterizes  all  his  work.  She 
filled  his  imagination  with  legends  and  stories  of  family  life. 

T.  What  effect  did  his  parentage  have  upon  him? 

P.  Father  was  a barrister. 

T*  Yes,  his  father  was  a barrister  and  through  him  Sir  Walter  learned  to  be  a 
lawyer. 

T.  His  mother? 

P.  She  was  closely  related  to  Walter.  (Hoars  of  laughter). 

T.  Yes,  but  how  did  she  influence  him? 

P.  She  told  him  stories  about  the  family  heroes. 

T.  Yes,  his  mother  had  superior  native  ability  for  telling  stories  which  stirred 
young  Walter’s  enthusiasm  by  revealing  the  past  as  a world  of  living  heroes. 
T.  Tell  what  you  can  about  his  education. 

P.  Went  to  school  a few  years  and  then  studied  law. 

T.  What  do  you  think  about  his  scholarship? 

P.  A fair  student. 

T.  Yes  he  was  only  a fair  student.  He  liked  Border  Wars  and  legends  about  his 
wild  ancestors  better  than  he  did  his  prescribed  studies.  Don’t  you  think? 

T.  He  attended  the  University  where? 

P.  Edinburgh. 


. 


42 

T.  When  was  he  admitted  to  the  Bar? 

P.  1771. 

T.  Ho,  Charles,  he  was  born  that  year;  in  1792  wasn’t  it? 

T.  Why  was  he  an  unsuccessful  lawyer? 

P.  Didn’t  take  no  interest  in  it. 

T.  Ho,  he  didn't  take  any  interest  in  it.  Why? 

P.  He  didn’t  like  it. 

T.  Ho,  he  would  rather  make  excursions  over  the  country  to  visit  localities  of 
historic  interest  than  to  plead  law.  Wouldn’t  he? 

Pupil  - Dont  you  think  that  he  could  make  more  money  pleading  law  than  writing 
books? 

Teacher  - Ordinarily  so,  but  Scott  had  popularized  poetry  and  novels  so  that  he 
made  over  a million  dollars  on  his  works.  The  times  had  changed  from  such 
times  when  writers  were  almost  in  want  until  some  wealthy  donor  gave  him 
support . 

T.  Don’t  you  think  that  he  was  justified  in  leaving  his  law  practising  and 
wander  over  the  country? 

P.  Yes. 

T.  Why? 

P.  Because  he  wrote  books. 

T.  Yes  - he  was  storing  his  mind  with  facts  legends  and  characters  which  he  after- 
ward embodied  in  his  immortal  works.  Didn't  he? 

T.  Hame  Scott's  poetry. 

P.  "The  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,”  "The  Lady  of  the  Lake",  and  - 
T.  His  greatest  poem  was  what? 

P.  "Marmion." 

T.  Yes,  indeed,  "Marmion.”  Don’t  you  remember  those  famous  lines: 

"Breathes  there  a man  with  a soul  so  dead.” 


43 

P.  Yes. 

T.  What  do  you  consider  as  the  outstanding  characteristics  of  his  poetry? 

What  do  you  remember  about  "The  Lady  of  the  Lake?" 

P.  I like  the  vivid  combat  between  James  and  Roderick  and  the  end  where 
Snowdon's  knights  bind  the  lovers  with,  with  his  chain  of  gold. 

Another  pupil  - Don't  you  like  the  songs  that  Scott  puts  into  "The  Lady  of  the 
Lake?" 

T.  Yes,  Scott's  prose  and  poetry  are  read  and  liked  so  well  for  their  rapid 

action  and  breezy  atmosphere.  Scott  attracted  thousands  of  readers  who  never 
took  to  literature  before. 

T.  How  could  Scott  have  spent  his  Just  how  could  he  have  avoided  the  tragedy 

which  closed  his  life?  What  big  mistake  did  he  make  in  business? 

P.  "Busted  up"  with  printer  publisher. 

T.  (Went  bankrupt).  What  criticism,  class? 

P.  They  did  not  go  bankrupt  because  an  extensive  sale  of  Scott's  novels  saved 
the  company  of  early  bankruptcy. 

T.  Certainly,  Scott  saved  the  company  from  bankruptcy. 

T.  Why  should  we  admire  Scott  for  this  deed? 

P.  Scott  attempted  to  pay  back  every  cent. 

T.  Yes,  exactly.  Though  he  was  a silent  partner,  he  assumed  the  responsibility 
of  this  enormous  debt  of  one  million  dollars.  The  firm  could  have  compromised 
with  its  creditors;  but  Scott  refused  to  hear  of  bankruptcy  laws  under 
which  he  could  have  taken  refuge. 

P.  Are  the  bankruptcy  laws  in  Scotland  like  those  we  have? 

T . We  will  leave  that  for  tomorrow  and  go  on  - What  novels  did  Scott  write? 

P.  Waverly,  Guy  Mannering,  Ivanhoe. 

T.  What  others? 

P.  "Rob  Roy." 


' 


. 

' 

#’■ 

* 


44 

T.  Tes,  '’Rob  Roy,**  "Heart  of  Midlothian",  "Life  of  Napoleon." 

T.  How  many  novels  did  he  write? 

P • Don' t know. 

T.  Two  a year  for  the  next  seventeen  years. 

T.  Why  did  Scott  make  the  transition  from  prose  to  poetry? 

P.  He  was  rumaging  throughthe  drawers  of  his  desk  for  a fishing  tackle  and 
found  one  of  his  old  stories  that  he  had  written  nine  years  ago. 

T.  Yes,  that  incident  did  bring  on  the  success  of  the  Waverly  novel.  But  why 
did  Scott  give  up  writing  poetry? 

P.  Liked  stories  better. 

T.  Yes,  but  there  is  another  reason  of  which  I am  thinking.  Who  knows?  Who 
appeared  with  some  better  poems  than  Scott's  later  poems? 

P.  Byron. 

T.  Why  yes,  Byron. 

T.  What  famous  poem  did  he  write? 

P.  "Childe  Harold." 

Thus  the  number  of  questions  and  answers  of  the  foregoing  calibre 
reached  the  maximum  of  ninety-three.  A class  of  eight  year  old  pupils  ought 
to  make  as  good  showing  with  such  method  of  questioning  with  twenty  minutes  of 
previous  study  as  this  tenth  grade  class  did.  No  comment  on  such  questioning 
should  be  necessary  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  persons  who  go  through  the 
motion  of  teaching  in  this  manner  pass  for  experts.  Such  questioning  shows  lack 
of  vision  and  educational  outlook. 

The  field  of  English  is  abundantly  rich  in  offering  opportunities  for 
a pupil  to  associate  his  experiences  and  to  formulate  his  expressions  in  some 
concise  manner.  In  lieu  of  a multitude  of  questions  so  limited  in  scope  as  to 
pauperize  the  intellects  of  healthy-minded  girls  and  boys,  I should  suggest  a 
"back-bone"  question  of  larger  scope,  as: 


. 


. 


45 


Point  out  five  factors  in  the  life  of  Scott  that  tended  toward  making 
the  greatest  historical  novelist  of  the  day.  However  faulty  this  question  may 
be,  it,  at  least,  forces  the  pupil  to  organize  his  own  thought,  to  formulate  his 
own  judgment  and  to  elicit  his  own  original  expression. 

Stenographic  report  showing  a small  number  of  questions. 

Aim:  To  show  the  present  conditions  of  immigrants  in  the  United  States  and 

why  rigid  exclusion  laws  are  necessary  for  several  years. 

Teacher  - In  Zangwill's  play,  "The  Melting  Pot**,  Hew  York  City  is  portrayed  as 
the  melting  pot  of  the  world  and,  although  the  title  seems  to  imply 
that  in  New  York  people  of  every  race  are  assimilated  into  cne  American 
nation,  our  greatest  problem  has  yet  to  be  met.  We,  as  a nation,  are  not 
Americanizing  our  alien  population  and  this  leads  to  many  of  our  most 
serious  city  difficulties.  When  we  consider  that  in  New  York  alone  there 
are  more  Germans  than  in  any  city  in  Germany  except  Berlin  and  Hamburg; 
more  Italians  than  in  Rome;  more  Jews  than  in  Palestine;  it  is  evident 
that  we  have  not  met  this  problem.  Especially  do  we  realize  this  when  we 
think  of  our  little  Russian,  Italian  or  China  towns! 

T.  What  causes  can  you  give  for  immigration  from  1750-1920^  Think  way  back  into 
European  history.  What  caused  the  Puritans  to  leave  England? 

P.  Religious  persecutions. 

T.  What  caused  the  Irish  immigration  in  1846?  Clitus. 

P.  Why  - a religious  persecution. 

T.  No,  indeed,  the  potato  famine;  then  in  1848-52  5 l/4  million  Germans  left 
Germany  - Why? 

P.  Because  they  did  not  like  the  militarism. 

T.  Yes,  because  of  political  and  religious  oppression.  Besides  these  3 l/2 
million  the  English  immigranted  to  America  in  1820  and  later  2 million 


Scandinavians 


. 


. 


- 


. 


46 


T.  In  1882  the  character  of  the  immigration  changed.  Most  of  the  immigrants  came 
from  the  southern  part  of  Europe  rather  than  from  the  north.  (Teacher 
points  to  map. ) 

Southern  Europeans  are  very  different  from  the  northern  Europeans.  The 
Germans,  English,  Irish,  Swedes  are  usually  educated,  good  workers,  full 
of  initiative  clean  in  morals  and  respectful  of  law,  while  those  immigrants 
from  aeuthern  Europe  are  usually  illiterate,  lacking  in  self-reliance, 
poor  in  initiative  and  have  no  conceptions  of  law,  order  and  government. See 

T.  What  causes  great  tides  of  immigration  in  this  country  now? 

P.  They  come  to  the  United  States  to  get  rich  quick. 

T.  Yes,  the  economic  conditions  contribute  more  than  any  other  factor  in  causing 
large  groups  to  come  here  for  wealth  and  then  return  to  their  native  land. 
They  have  no  idea  of  becoming  Americans!  The  over  crowded  conditions  in 
foreign  lands,  lack  of  employment,  meager  compensations,  poor  working 
facilities  have  all  contributed.  Just  think!  Over  1,197,892  immigrants 
came  to  America  in  1914;  the  majority  came  from  Southern  Europe!  And 
three-fourths  of  these  immigrants  enter  Ellis  Island  and  all  steerage 
passengers  must  pass  an  examination  both  physical  and  mental  examination. 

T.  Why  are  such  examinations  a good  thing? 

P.  The  physical  examination  is  necessary  to  safeguard  our  life  and  health.  To 
admit  into  this  country  people  with  contagious  diseases  or  immoral  women 
would  be  contrary  to  purposes  of  the  United  States  Public  Health  Service 
Bureau. 

T.  That  was  well  said.  Our  immigration  law  excludes  persons  mentally  defective 
or  those  likely  to  become  charges,  persons  with  contagious  diseases, 
criminals,  polygamists,  anarchists,  or  laborers  brought  to  the  United  States 
by  contractors.  Natives  of  Asia,  east  of  Persia,  and  south  of  Siberia  and 
of  the  islands  adjacent  to  southern  Asia,  excdpt  the  Philippines,  are  ex- 


, 


: 


eluded 


P.  Why  I know  some  Hindoos  and  some  people  from  Siam  here  at  the  University  - 
How  did  they  get  here? 

T.  Certain  professional  classes,  students,  merchants,  and  travellers  are 
allowed  to  come.  See? 

P,  There  are  Japanese  and  Koreans,  too, 

T.  Yes,  Japanese  and  Koreans  are  not  excluded,  but  Japan  has  agreed  not  to  grant 
passports  to  coolies  from  Japan  or  Korea. 

T,  What  is  your  opinion  about  the  mental  or  literacy  test?  Do  you  think  it  a 

good  thing  or  do  you  believe  that  it  tends  to  keep  out  some  desirable  people 

P.  Yes. 

T#  In  some  respects  such  test  is  a good  thing  but  recently  the  papers  have  shown 
several  instances  where  it  fails.  A worthy  family,  who  is  industrious, 
thrifty  with  money  enough  to  live  until  some  work  was  found  and  with  a keen 
desire  to  become  citizens,  may  be  kept  out  because  the  mother  is  unable  to 
pass  the  mental  test.  In  other  cases,  very  clever  crooks  might,  get  in,  with 
no  idea  of  becoming  a worthy  American.  See? 

T.  Let  us  name  again  the  classes  that  are  excluded.  Teacher  takes  lead  and 
names  all  except  one  herself. 

All.  Criminals,  anarchists,  mentally  defective,  diseased,  and  men  under  contract 
labor. 

T.  Do  you  see  why  the  last  class  should  be  excluded? 

P.  Assent. 

T.  Foreign  labor  is  so  cheap  that  is  a foreigner  could  come  in  under  a contract 
that  would  lessen  wages  in  America  and  the  American  would  be  thrown  out  of 
work  thus  lowering  his  standard  of  living.  Thats  the  reason  why  the  people 
in  California  want  to  exclude  Japanese  because  Japanese  labor  is  so  cheap 
that  the  Californians  cannot  compete  with  him. 

P.  I thought  that  you  said  Japs  were  excluded. 


- 


48 


T.  They  are  not  excluded  except  through  the  Gentleman’s  Agreement  with  Japan 
in  which  the  Japanese  government  agrees  not  to  give  passports  to  Japanese 
coolies#  You  know  what  a coolie  is  don't  you?  It  Is  a cheap  laborer  of 

- C 

the  Orient.  See? 

T.  Sow,  if  we  can  have  the  attention  of  the  class  we  shall  consider  what  the 
social,  economic  and  political  results  of  immigration  are. 

T.  What  are  the  social  results  Ruth? 

R.  The  social  results  are  bad. 

T.  Yes,  because  the  immigrants  tend  to  settle  in  compact  groups  and  do  not 

become  assimilated,  that  is,  they  do  not  learn  our  institutions,  our  language 
and  our  laws. 

T.  Sow,  there,  the  economic  result  - It  tends  to  make  the  supply  of  labor  greater 
tends  toward  lowering  wages  and  then  lowering  our  standard  of  living.  See? 
Then,  in  the  city  it  tends  to  bring  about  problems  of  sanitation,  overcrowded 
districts  and  crime,  let  us  see. 

T.  Now,  how  is  the  political  life  here  affected  by  the  immigrant?  He  comes 
here  with  glowing  ideas  of  getting  rich  quick.  When  he  comes  and  finds  them 
illusions  - that  living  conditions  are  as  difficult  here  as  well  as  elsewhere, 
he  becomes  annoyed,  dissatisfied,  is  fit  subject  for  the  "soap  box  orator." 

He  is  detrimental  to  our  country.  So  you  can  see  the  menace  of  immigration 
and  why  rigid  exclusion  laws  should  be  passed? 

T.  How  would  you  solve  the  Immigration  problem? 

P.  I should  stop  i emigration  altogether  or  at  least  untij.  the  Americans  can 
solve  the  difficulties  with  what  we  have  and  I would  scatter  them  out. 

T.  The  Department  of  Labor  has  no  right  to  send  people  to  farms  for  instance. 
Anyway,  you  can  see  that  these  immigrants  would  not  know  how  to  farm  in  a 
scientific  way  end  the  foreigner  would  not  go  to  farm  because  he  would  be 
too  far  away  from  his  friends. 


. 


- 


. 


. 


- 


. 


49 

P.  Why  is  the  "Bureau  of  Immigration'’  under  the  Department  of  Labor?  Why  could 
it  not  be  under  Department  of  Interior  as  well? 

T.  Just  think  carefully!  Now,  honest  effort  on  the  part  of  the  American  to  be 
fair  must  be  made  to  the  alien.  He  must  be  educated  and  trained  to  know 
what  America  stands  for.  What  America  means! 

Bell. 

A small  number  of  questions  does  not  necessarily  indicate  the  highest 
efficiency  in  instruction.  The  stenographic  report  on  Immigration  offered  twelve 
as  its  maximum  number  of  questions  asked  by  teacher  and  pupils.  In  such  cases 
where  the  teacher  attempts  "the  pouring  in  process"  he  assumes  the  responsibility 
of  the  class  activity  while  the  student  inculcates  the  habit  of  indifference  and 
of  sporadic  thinking. 

Stenographic  report  showing  quality  of  questions. 

Aim.  To  appreciate  the  content  of  Gray’s  "Elegy  Written  in  a Country  Church  Yard’ 

and  select  the  elements  of  romanticism  therein, 
to 

T.  Turn  your  texts  (Newcomers  and  Andrews  Twelve  Centuries  of  Prose  and  Poetry) 
to  page  308,  to  Pope’s  "Essay  on  Criticism."  Why  does  Pope  mean  by  the  coup- 
let : 

"A  perfect  judge  will  reach  each  work  of  wit 
With  the  same  spirit  that  its  author  writ."? 

P.  Pope  means  that  a reader  should  try  to  understand  the  feelings  that  caused 

the  author  to  write  what  he  did. 

T.  What  do  you  think  waa  the  most  important  feeling  that  led  Gray  to  write  the 
elegy? 

P.  It  was  his  love  for  man. 

T.  What  does  Pope  mean  by  "In  every  work  regard  the  writer’s  end?" 

P.  He  means  that  a reader  should  understand  the  purpose  that  a writer  has  in 
mind. 


. 


. 


- 


. 


. 


50 

T.  Will  you  apply  that  thought  to  Gray's  Elegy? 

P.  Gray's  purpose  was  to  pay  respect  to  the  many  worthy  men  who  have  died,  in 
obscurity  and  whose  deeds  have  been  forgotten. 

T.  What  does  Pope  mean  by  the  couplet: 

"'Tis  not  a lip,  or  eye,  we  beauty  call, 

But  the  joint  force  and  full  result  of  all." 

P.  He  means  that  we  must  toow  the  whole  piece  of  writing  and  not  judge  simply 
a part  of  it. 

T.  Keeping  in  mind  Gray's  love  for  humanity  and  his  aim,  let  us  analyze  the 

thought  of  the  entire  poem.  Read  the  words  in  the  first  four  stanzas  that  best 
express  the  setting. 

P.  Parting  day,  plowman,  solemn  stillness,  distant  folds,  moping  owl,  the  rude 
forefathers  of  the  hamlet  sleep. 

T.  What  feeling  is  expressed  in  stanzas  five,  six  and  seven? 

P.  Lament. 

T.  What  is  the  third  division  of  the  elegy? 

P.  It  begins  where  Gray  enumerates  the  humble  conditions  under  which  these  men 

died  and  now  have  no  suitable  monuments.  The  next  division  gives  Gray's  com- 
ments upon  the  uselessness  of  monuments  and  his  conception  of  a true  epitaph. 

T.  Read  what  you  regard  as  the  most  essential  line  of  that  epitaph. 

P.  "He  gave  to  misery  all  he  had,  a tear. 

He  gained  from  Heaven  ('twas  all  he  wished)  a friend." 

T.  Thus,  far  our  study  of  Gray's  Elegy  has  shown  us  that  the  poet's  love  for 
humanity  prompted  him  to  honor  the  memory  of  worthy  men  who  have  done  noble 
deeds  but  who  have  died  in  obscurity.  He  has  pictured  the  setting  in  which 
"The  rude  forefathers  of  the  hamlet  sleep".  He  has  lamented  their  death  and 
the  fact  that  no  trophies  have  been  raised  over  their  tombs  and  he  has  added 
the  Epitaph,  so  Universal  in  its  interest. 

How  let's  turn  to  the  poem  as  an  expression  of  romanticism.  Enumerate  the 


. 


■ • 


51 


characteristics  of  romanticism  as  we  have  learned  them. 

P.  (Enumerates  while  teacher  writes  on  board): 

1.  love  for  humanity 

2.  interest  in  nature  and  the  outdoor  setting 

3.  freedom  of  thought  and  expression 

4.  love  for  youth  and  beauty 

5.  respect  for  Shakespeare  and  Milton 

T.  The  first  two  we  have  already  applied  to  this  poem.  So  begin  with  the  third. 
P.  Gray  expresses  freedom  of  thought  and  expression  - I don’t  know. 

T.  What  was  the  accepted  form  of  poetry  in  the  day  of  Pope? 

P.  The  rhyming  couplet. 

T.  What  is  there  of  interest  about  the  fact  that  Gray’s  poem  is  not  in  couplets? 
P.  It  shows  that  he  was  free  in  his  expression,  therefore,  a romanticist. 

T.  Quote  the  line  which  shows  that  Gray  does  not  favor  youth  in  his  poem. 

P.  ’’Haply  some  hoary-headed  swain  may  say.” 

T • Which  stanzas  would  you  choose  as  showing  Gray’ s love  for  beauty? 

P.  Selects  and  reads  stanza  one:  ’’The  curfew  tolls  the  knell  of  parting  day.” 

T.  Where  do  you  find  any  reference  to  Milton? 

?.  "Some  mate , inglorious  Milton  here  may  rest.” 

T.  What  conclusion  do  you  reach  from  this  discussion  about  Gray  as  a romanticist? 
P.  Gray  lacked  youthfulness  but  in  all  the  other  characteristics  3uch  as:  the 
love  of  humanity,  freedom  in  expression,  interest  in  nature,  and  in  respect  for 
Milton  he  is  aromanticist. 

C>yv«L 

If  a large  number  of  questions  nor  a small  number  of  questions  cannot 
be  taken  wholly  as  criteria  for  efficient  teaching,  then  the  quality  of  the 
question  must  perforce  determine  the  efficiency  of  Instruction  to  some  degree. 

The  last  report,  which  I consider  the  most  superior  one,  offers  sixteen 
questions  broad  enough  in  scope  to  elicit  good  mental  reaction  and  clean-cut  oral 
expression.  The  questions  were  for  most  part  searching.  They  could  not  be  an- 
swered from  memory  alone  but  they  called  for  discriminations,  individual  judg- 


52 


merits  and  personal  application  of  previously  acquired  knowledge  on  the  part  of 
the  pupil.  The  questions  stimulated  the  pupils  to  independent  thinking,  invited 
them  to  make  associations  of  the  new  with  old  experiences  and  encouraged  them 
to  stand  on  their  feet  and  speak  thoughtfully  and  effectively. 


53 


Chapter  V 

THE  ART  OF  QUESTIONING 

"In  the  skillful  use  of  the  question  more  than  in  anything  else  lies 
the  fine  art  of  teaching;  for  in  it  we  have  the  guide  to  clear  and  vivid  ideas, 
the  quick  spur  to  the  imagination,  the  stimulus  to  thought,  the  incentive  to 
act  ion."1 

"Skill  in  the  art  of  questioning  lies  at  the  basis  of  all  good  teach- 
ing. Good  teaching  stimulates  the  thought,  leads  to  inquiry  and  results  in  un- 
derstanding and  mastery.  Poor  questioning  leaves  the  mental  powers  unawakened, 

2 

cripples  thought  in  inefficiency  and  lack  of  mastery." 

"The  art  of  questioning  is  an  important  factor  in  all  types  of  reci- 
tations. Skilled  questioning  is  the  most  important  element  in  securing  educa- 

3 

tive  results  whether  in  the  project,  laboratory  or  conversational  method." 

The  question-answer  method  is  the  fundamental  medium  of  instruction, 
as  we  all  recognize.  The  topical  lesson,  the  laboratory  exercise,  the  lecture 
method  and  the  projects  are  aids  and  complements,  but  all  good  instruction  cen- 
ters about  the  question.  Why  is  scarcely  any  literature  available  about  the 
question?  Because,  probably,  it  is  felt  that  the  teachers  are  born  with  an  in- 
tuitive sense  which  leads  teachers  to  know  when  to  ask  questions  and  how  to  ask 
them.  The  fact  is  that  few  teachers  since  the  days  of  Socrates  have  been  able  to 
employ  the  question  as  effectively  as  he. 

We  may  ask,  why  do  we  question,  since  the  technique  of  questioning 
depends  upon  the  reason  for  questioning.  Questions  in  the  class-room  have  a 

1.  De  Garmo,  Charles,  Interest  and  Education,  p.179,  1903. 

2.  3etts,  George  Herbert,  The  Recitation,  p. 55,  1910. 

3.  Parker,  Samuel  Chester,  The  Method  of  Teaching  in  High  School,  Chap. XX. 


- 


■ 


. 


54 


different  purpose  from  the  purpose  motivating  most  questioning  in  every  day  life. 
To  the  lawyer  the  question  is  a weapon  of  offense  and  defense;  to  the  physician 
the  question  is  a prerequisite  for  offering  the  proper  prescriptions;  "to  the 
teacher  the  question  is  a means  of  securing  growth,  for  it  can  turn  indifference 
into  interest,  torpidity  into  activity,  ignorance  into  knowledge. 

The  function  of  the  question  for  the  lawyer  and  the  doctor  is  the  ex- 
tracting of  information  which  will  guide  the  questioner  in  his  action  toward 
his  client  or  his  patient.  This  element  of  extracting  information  is  too  fre- 
quently ascribed  to  the  teacher.  The  question  for  the  teacher  has  digressed  from 
its  legitimate  purpose  if  it  does  not  do  more  than  elicit  facts,  if  it  does  not 
direct  the  thought  processes  to  reflection  and  to  well-rounded  thoughts  and  does 
not  cultivate  the  fine  art  of  expression. 

Good  questioning,  in  the  main,  has  its  center  of  gracity  in  the  stimu- 
lation of  thought  on  the  part  of  the  pupil.  The  superiority  of  the  good  teacher 
over  the  mediocre  one  can  usually  be  found  to  have  its  locus  in  the  thought- 
provoking  quality  of  the  question. 

In  order  to  know  whether  the  question  is  wisely  used,  we  shall  con- 
sider a few  essentials  of  good  questioning.  Most  questions,  according  to  the 
concensus  of  opinion  of  educational  experts,  should  be  thought-provoking.  Sven 
the  extent  and  the  intensity  of  reflection  may  vary  widely  and  should  vary  some- 
what in  every  lesson  so  that  all  questions  will  not  operate  in  the  same  groove 
nor  keep  in  motion  the  same  processes  of  thought  activity.  Most  of  the  questions 
found  in  current  practices  were  exercises  which  stimulated  verbal  memory  alone. 
Associative  memory,  even,  was  neglected  along  with  other  processes  of  discrimina- 
tion, association  and  judgment.  I can  best  illustrate  my  meaning  regarding  the 
extent  and  the  intensity  of  reflection  by  a comparison  of  a few  sets  of  questions 


1.  DeGarmo,Char Les,  Education  and  Interest,  p.179.  1903. 


. 

■ 


■ 


55 


as  follows: 

1.  What  is  photosynthesis? 

2.  When  was  the  battle  of  Marathon? 

3.  What  is  meant  by  filibustering? 

4.  What  is  a party  caucus? 

5.  What  is  the  capital  of  Wyoming? 

For  these  questions,  essential  as  they  are,  you  either  know  or  you  do 
not  know  the  answers.  ITo  amount  of  reflection  will  produce  the  facts  if  they 
are  not  already  in  the  memory.  The  questions  stimulate  memory  and  in  that  sense 
provoke  thought  but  the  element  of  reflection  is  not  present,  in  any  appreciable 
degree  such  as  would  exist  if  the  questions  were  transposed  into  another  form, as: 

1.  How  would  animal  life  be  affected  if  green  plants  manufactured  just- 
enough  food  for  their  own  growth? 

2.  Why  was  the  victory  at  Marathon  so  meaningful  to  the  Greeks? 

3.  Why  cannot  a bill  be  defeated  in  the  House  of  Representatives  by 
f i libustering  as  well  as  in  the  Senate? 

4.  Why  do  you  think  that  laws  enacted  by  the  majority  party  or  caucus  in 

each  house  is  an  efficient  system? 

These  questions  cannot  be  answered  from  memory  alone.  The  associations 
discriminations,  and  individual  judgments  must  be  made  by  the  one  who  is  ques- 
tioned, using  as  his  basis  certain  facts  in  his  possession.  Questions  that  re- 
quire no  further  thought  than  an  assent  or  denial  have,  by  many  educators,  been 
condemned,  and,  rightly  so,  if  they  create  no  reflective  attitude  or  any  thought, 
reaction  whatsoever. 

The  following  questions  selected  from  the  reports  are  stimulative  of 
no  reflective  consideration: 

1.  Have  I erected  a perpendicular? 

2.  Was  Macbeth  brave  when  he  saw  the  ghost  of  Banquo? 

3.  Are  all  bacteria  harmful? 

4.  Is  this  our  lesson  today? 

5.  Did  I assign  themes  yesterday? 

6.  Don’t  you  think  that  Irving  has  a delicate  sense  of  humor? 

For  the  purpose  of  contrast  I submit  another  set  of  yes-no  questions. 

Jefferson  has  some  doubt  as  to  the  propriety  of  a national  postoffice, 
thinking  \t  might  be  better  to  leave  the  carrying  of  letters  to  private  enter- 


56 


prise.  Do  you  think  that  postoffices  in  private  hands  would  have  resulted: 

1. in  reducing  the  postage  on  a letter  from  Charleston  to  Boston  from  one 
dollar  to  two  cents? 

2.  in  establishing  rural  free  delivery,  although  it  is  not  self-sustaining? 

3.  in  carrying  public  documents  free,  thus  saving  millions  of  dollars  for 

the  government? 

4.  in  establishing  air  routes  to  promote  aviation  as  well  as  rapid  communica- 

tion? 

5.  in  reducing  the  rates  of  postage,  before  commercially  profitable,  in 

order  that  intercourse  may  be  maintained  between  scattered  friends? 

These  are  yes  and  no  questions,  but  I think  that  the  general  verdict 
would  be  that  the  effect  of  the  question  is  to  stimulate  reflective  considera- 
tion. Therefore,  they  are  valuable. 

To  stimulate  the  reflective  powers  to  the  highest  possible  degree  the 
judgment  should  be  called  into  play.  A pupil  is  thereupon  required  to  weigh  a 
number  of  facts  before  making  a response.  More  judgment  is  required  in  answer- 
ing the  question:  Is  the  congressional  caucus  a desirable  feature  in  our  politi- 

cal machinery?  than  is  required  in  answering  the  questions-  what  is  a caucus, 
who  composes  it?  The  pupil  needs  the  positive  accomplishments  on  one  side  and 
the  objections  on  the  other  and  then  he  needs  to  strike  a balance. 

The  formation  of  reasonable  judgments  on  the  basis  of  facts  presented 
is  so  inportant  a factor  in  everyday  life  that  the  school  exercises  should  lend 
all  possible  support  to  the  development  of  this  needed  capacity. 

Very  few  questions  are  so  framed  as  to  call  for  really  individual  judg- 
ment. Many  questions  designed  to  be  judgment  questions,  are  so  superficial  that 
they  require  the  briefest  and  the  most  trivial  judgment,  in  fact,  they  do  nothing 
but  stimulate  the  verbal  memory.  The  following  short  sequence  of  sentences 
illustrates  my  meaning: 

1.  How  did  Julius  Caesar  show  his  superiority  over  Marius  and  Sulla  as  a 
statesmen? 

2.  Why  is  the  tariff  on  champagne  $3.00  and  that  on  vinegar  only  four  cents? 

3.  Why  does  a corn  plant  growing  alone  seldom  produce  good  ears? 

These  questions  ostensibly  make  an  appeal  to  the  judgment,  but,  to  a 


. 

. 

♦ 


. 1 


. 


. 


57 


very  superficial  judgment  since  the  answers  are  directly  stated  in  the  text. 

Another  type  of  thought  stimulating  question  which  tends  toward  re- 
flection is  one  which  requires  analysis  on  the  part  of  the  student. 

The  following  questions  required  analysis  before  an  answer  can  be 

effected: 

1.  At  what  point  in  American  history  was  the  desirefor  independence  re- 
cognized? 

2.  What  recent  events  can  be  traced  to  the  ill-advised  actions  of  the 
Congress  of  Vienna? 

a 

To  formulate  satisfactory  answer  for  the  first  question  one  would  be 
required  to  analyze  the  character  of  the  pre-revolut icnary  events;  to  answer 
the  second  query  one  would  need  to  analyze  treaty  arrangements  into  territorial 
assignments,  and  the  violations  of  nationality.  And  then  judge  as  to  the  con- 
nections between  these  arrangements  and  recent  events. 

Experts  on  the  art  of  questioning  would  offer  objection  to  this  type  of 
question  on  the  grounds  that  the  scope  of  the  question  was  too  great.  Stevens1 
would  say  that  pupils  do  not  have  sufficient  power  of  organization  to  give  spon- 
taneously a full  answer  to  a question  involving  so  many  factors.  Such  question 
may  be  a legitimate  device  for  instruction  when  asked  merely  to  turn  the  thoughts 
of  the  class  in  a certain  direction  and  then  followed  by  more  specific  and  search- 
ing questions.  By  means  of  the  analytical  question  we  resolve  the  totals  into 
their  elements  in  order  to  find  characteristic  or  individual  facts.  It  is 
paramount  that  these  questions  stand  in  orderly  and  logical  relations  leaving  no 
impassable  logical  step. 

The  analytical  and  the  development  question  are  the  most  important  and 
the  most  difficult.  By  the  aid  of  the  latter  the  teacher  endeavors  to  secure  in 
the  pupil  a comprehension  of  generalizations  in  the  form  of  conceptions,  rules, 

and  principles.  The  following  is  a development  lesson  of  a sixth  grade: 

1.  Stevens,  Homiett,  The  Question  as  a Measure  of  Efficiency  in  Instruction, 
Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  1912. 


. 


I 


58 

Aim:  To  understand  the  significance  of  a preposition  and  to  formulate  a 
definition  thereof. 

On  the  board  were  the  following  sentences: 

The  dog  went  into  the  yard. 

The  dog  went  across  the  yard. 

The  dog  went  by  the  yard. 

The  dog  went  through  the  yard. 

T.  Read  the  sentences,  James. 

J.  Reads. 

T.  Can  you  tell  which  words  are  different  in  these  sentences,  Helen? 

Helen  reads  and  points  to:  into,  across,  by, through. 

T.  (underlines  the  words  as  read).  These  words  are  followed  by  what?  What  word 
follows  these  that  I have  underlined? 

P.  Yard. 

T.  Yes,  yard,  What  part  of  speech  is  it?  What  part  of  speech  do  we  call  a name 
word?  Don’t  you  remember? 

P.  We  call  a name  word  a noun. 

T.  That’s  right,  a noun.  Let  us  see  whether  we  can  substitute  other  nouns  for 

the  word  yard.  (She  erases  the  word  yard). 

P.  The  dog  went  into  the  kennel. 

The  dog  went  across  the  lot. 

The  dog  went  through  it. 

T.  Points  to  word  It_;  what  do  you  mean  when  you  say  it? 

P.  I mean  hole. 

T.  Let’s  us  say  then,  the  dog  went  through  the  hole. 

P.  The  dog  went  by  the  house. 

T.  Can  you  think  of  another  word  that  is  not  a noun  that  can  be  substituted  for 
kennel , lot , hole . and  house? 

P.  The  dog  went  fast. 

T.  Yes,  but  we  do  not  want  to  know  how  the  dog  went;  we  want  to  know  where  he 

went. 

T.  The  dog  went  into  i 1? 


- 


' 


59 


?.  It. 

T.  Now,  read  these  sentences  with  words  that  are  not  nouns. 

P.  He  went  into  it. 

He  went  across  it. 

He  went  by  me. 

T.  Yes,  (underlines  it^  and  ire).  What  parts  of  speech  are  these  words?  Oh, class, 
they  are  words  that  stand  for  a noun.  Aren’t  they? 

P.  All  assent  by  a volley  of  yes. 

T.  Now,  can’t  you  tell  me  the  name  of  the  word  used  instead  of  a noun?  p-r-o-n 

P.  Pronoun. 

T.  Sure,  they  are  pronouns. 

T. (writes  on  the  board):  The  book  on  the  table  is  red. 

The  pencil  in  my  hand  is  yours. 

3ring  that  map  to  me.  Do  you  see  any  words  which  show 
relation  to:  the  table,  my  hand,  me? 

P.  Yes,  the  words,  on,  my_  and  t£  show  relation. 

T.  The  first  two  show  relation  to  what  part  of  speech? 

P.  Noun. 

T.  The  last  one  shows  relation  to  what  part  of  speech? 

P.  Pronoun. 

T.  The  name  of  this  word  which  shows  relation  to  a noun  or  a pronoun  is  a prepo- 
sition. Now,  take  your  pencil  pads  and  tell  what  a preposition  is  now,  we 

shall  read  until  we  have  found  the  best  one. 

P.  (Half  dozen  read). 

T.  Who  has  read  the  best  one? 

Class  - class  agree  on  Charles. 

T.  You  may  write  your  idea  of  a preposition  on  the  board,  Charles. 

Charles  writes:  A preposition  is  a word  which  shows  relation  to  a noun  or  a pronoun 
T.  Open  your  book  quickly  to  see  what  it  says  about  prepositions. 

(Each  pupil  defines  preposition)  and  learns  the  definition.  Now  let  U3  find 


60 


the  prepositions  in  these  sentences,  snd  show  their  uses: 

1.  The  picture  on  the  wall  is  Sir  Galahad. 

2.  The  flowers  in  the  vase  are  red. 

3.  "The  trees  in  apple  orchards  with  fruit  are  bending  down." 

4.  The  children  chases  butterflies  across  the  field. 

5.  The  month  of  June  is  beautiful. 

P.  (Bead  and  recognized  prepositions  readily). 

T.  Each  pupil  pass  to  board  and  write  a sentence  of  your  own  with  a preposition. 

A very  desirable  outcome  of  the  questioning  process  should  be  further 

questioning  on  the  part  of  the  pupils.  A teacher  should  be  skeptical  as  to  the 

worth  of  his  questions  if  they  do  not  frequently  provoke  an  active  interrogative 
attitude  on  the  part  of  the  student.  The  teacher  should  not  be  the  only  one  to 
ask  question  nor  the  only  one  who  sets  forth  ideas  for  the  enlightenment  of 
others.  In  fact,  some  of  the  best  class  exercises  recorded  were  ones  in  which 
the  pupils  were  fighting  out  a disputed  question  among  themselves,  one  at  a 
time,  while  the  teacher  stood  on  the  side  line  and  acted  as  a referee. 

Questions  should  be  progressive , purposeful  and  selected  with  emphasis. 
In  chapter  three  of  this  paper  the  second  stenographic  report  on  Julius  Caesar 
illustrates  conclusively  the  foregoing  points.  The  questions  asked  by  the  teach- 
er were  so  framed  that  each  one  brought  nearer  to  realization  the  necessity  of  a 
monarch  in  Caesar’s  day.  It  is  necessary  that  questions  be  so  unified  as  to  deal 
with  units  of  thought  of  some  magnitude.  Straggling,  scrappy,  fragmentary 
questions  are  signs  of  poor  teaching.  Every  question  should  focus  the  attention 
on  the  problem  under  consideration.  The  question  is  the  means  of  bringing  the 
specific  problem  to  consciousness*  whether  it  is  a mere  fact,  a state  of  feeling 
or  a process  of  reasoning.  A specific  problem  holds  the  attention  and  gives  a 
center  about  which  relevant  material  may  be  grouped.  A question  that  does  not 
furnish  a center  for  focusing  the  attention  of  a class  has  no  place  in  instruct ia 


« 


61 


Now,  how  should  a question  be  evaluated?  Obviously,  one  test  is  ap- 
plicable to  the  question;  a question  which  provokes  reflective  thinking,  which 
results  in  formulating  a judgment,  which  calls  forth  analysis,  or  leads  to 
thoughtful  questioning  is  to  be  preferred  to  the  one  which  tests  merely  the 
memory  for  facts.  Few  people  will  object  to  the  statement  that  the  thought 
question  is  one  of  the  most  important  tools  in  instruction.  Most  life  situations 
demand  the  rational  powers  of  the  individual  who  meets  them  successfully. 

More  than  anything,  the  character  of  the  questions  asked  determines 
the  nature  and  the  value  of  the  teaching.  Teachers  on  the  whole  are  not  skill- 
ful in  formulating  their  questions  for  the  best  possible  results.  Most  teachers 
who  have  fallin  into  the  habit  of  using  such  ineffective  and  faulty  types  of 
questioning,  do  not  realize  that  their  work  is  so  bad.  And  if  confronted  with 
stenographic  reports  of  their  recitation  they  would  scarcely  believe  that  the 
reports  were  exact  reproductions  of  what  happened  in  their  own  classes. 

We  shall  take  for  consideration  some  of  the  most  common  types  of 
faulty  technique  observed  in  the  class-room  practice.  George  Herbert  Betts,  in 
his  Monograph,  "The  Recitation",  makes  an  arraignment  on  the  inverted  question 
on  the  ground  that  it  is  faulty  in  technique. 

1.  The  inverted  question  if  used  wholly  throughout  the  class  procedure 
is,  indeed,  faulty  in  technique.  The  quality  of  such  question 
which  ends  in  where,  when  and  whom  depends  entirely  upon  the  essence 
of  the  question  and  not  so  much  upon  the  fact  that  it  is  wholly 
interrogative  or  interrogative  only  in  the  last  word. 

1. The  period  of  Romanticism  began  when? 

2.  Monasticism  is  what? 

3.  This  figure  of  speech  is  what? 

4.  The  Roman  laws  were  collected  and  compiled  by  whom? 

The  essence  of  the  foregoing  questions  could  not  be  improved  by  just 
removing  the  declarative  element.  If  questions  are  thought  stimulating,  adapt- 


*» 


62 


able  to  the  experience  of  the  pupil  and  are  productive  of  well-rounded  thought 
they  are  so  irrespective  of  their  inverted  form. 

The  following  extract  of  a stenographic  report  will  illustrate  how  the 
inverted  question  by  its  frequency  can  be  made  faulty  in  technique: 

T.  Monasticism  is  what? 

P.  It  is  a life  of  exclusion  and  self  denial. 

T.  The  two  classes  of  Ascetics  were  what? 

P.  Hermits  and  monks. 

T.  They  lived  where? 

P.  Hermits  lived  alone  in  solitary  places  and  monks  went  to  live  together  in 
communit ies. 

T.  Yes,  if  a group  of  people,  let  us  say  seventy,  should  decide  to  go  to  some 
quiet  place  to  get  away  from  the  turmoil  and  strife  of  the  Homan  life,  they 
would  need  what? 

P.  Leader. 

T • Then  what? 

P.  A government 

T.  The  man  who  saw  this  need  and  who  organized  some  rules  was  who? 

P.  St.  Benedict. 

T.  Name  the  rules  of  St.  Benedict.  They  were  what? 

P.  Never  to  get  married  and 

T.  Yes,  chastity;  and  then  what? 

P.  To  obey  and 

T.  To  obey  their  what? 

P.  Their  leader  and  their  church. 

T.  And,  one  more,  and  the  law  about  property  was  what? 

P.  He  could  not  have  property. 

T.  Now,  every  man  who  went  into  the  monastery  had  to  do  what? 


. 


. 


63 


P.  He  had  to  take  vows  of  obedience  and  pov 

T.  and  finally  what? 

P.  and  not  to  get  married. 

Near  the  close  of  the  hour  the  teacher  asked  for  a complete  resume  of 
monasticism  emphasizing  the  services  that  the  monks  rendered  to  civilization. 

P.  Many  people  wanted  to  withdraw  from  the  strife  and  turmoil  of  Reman  life 

to  live  in  quiet  and  peace  so  they  went  to  swamps,  deserts, 

T.  and  to  where  else? 

P.  quiet  places,  and  

T.  Some  having  formed  large  groups,  what  did  they  need? 

P.  They  needed  some  kind  of  laws  so  St.  Benedict  made  some  which  were  obedience — 
T.  And  what  else? 

P.  Poverty. 

T.  And  then,  what? 

P.  To  never  marry. 

T.  Yes,  that’s  right,  these  laws  of  St.  Benedict  were  that  each  one  who  came  to 
the  monastery  had  to  take  the  vow  of  obedience,  chastity  and  poverty. 

Now  in  monasteries  where  the  monks  adopted  the  laws  of  St.  Benedict  they 
were  called  what? 

P.  Benedicts. 

T.  No,  not  quite.  Benedict ines.  Now  go  on  with  your  summary  Margaret. 

Assume  a little  responsibility  yourself.  In  order  to  live  they  were  given 

P.  Gifts. 

T . Gifts  of  what? 

P.  Land. 

T.  And  this  caused  the  monks  to  be  interested  in  what? 

P.  More  lands. 

T.  But  what  do  we  call  people  who  study  the  composition  of  the  soil  and  supply 


64 


fertilizer  and  chemicals  sc  it  will  produce  more  intensively. 

P.  Scientific  farming. 

T.  Yes,  now  what  about  the  more  ambitious  monks,  they  did  what? 

P.  They  became  copyists  and  scholars. 

T • and  what? 

P.  Missionaries. 

The  general  verdict  concerning  this  lesson  is  that  it  is  outstandingly 
faulty  in  technique  largely  because  the  inverted  questions  are  used  so  extensive- 
ly so  as  to  create  monotonous  verbiage  and  deadened  interest.  The  teacher  in- 
terrupted and  badgered  the  pupils  unnecessarily  thus  giving  them  no  incentive  for 
independent  thinking.  The  whole  lesson  of  this  freshman  class  in  high  school  re- 
minded one  of  a language  completion  test  where  the  pupils  supply  the  missing  word. 
Such  teaching  unquestionably  shows  a lack  of  vision  and  educational  outlook. 

2.  The  second  type  of  faulty  technique  is  in  the  statement  which  is 
invariably  followed  by:  isn’t  it?  didn’t  he?  see  the  point?  see?  any  question? 
Such  conclusions  with  every  statement  are  useless,  for  they  trifle  with  time  and 
inculcate  habits  of  mental  laxiness  on  the  part  of  the  pupils. 

3.  The  false  start  in  which  the  teacher  changes  the  form  of  the  quest ior 
is  faulty  in  technique.  Because  of  the  inadequacy  of  his  question,  the  teacher 

is  prone  to  repeat  and  rephrase  his  query. 

1.  Can  you  give  me  the  exact  date  of  Shakespeare? s birth?  Was  he  born 
before  or  after  3acon? 

2.  How  could  Scott  have  spent  Just  how  could  he  have  avoided  a 

tragedy  which  closed  his  life?  I mean,  what  big  mistake  did  he  make 
in  his  life? 

3.  In  your  school  and  community  what  are  the  chief  chief  needs  for 

a better  understanding  of  the  nature  of  bacterial  diseases?  Yes, 
just  what  does  the  Board  of  Health  do  to  combat  disease?  What  can 
you  do  to  help  your  community  fight  them? 


;•  : 


65 


The  repetition  of  questions  is  "bad.  technique.  To  repeat  or  to  recast 
the  phraseology  of  questions  is  to  acknowledge  that  the  first  form  of  the 
question  was  unsatisfactory  or  that  the  pupils  were  not  expected  to  listen  to  the 
first  statement. 

4.  Obscure  and  indefinite  questions  which  result  most  frequently  be- 
cause teachers  do  not  formulate  their  pivotal  questions  in  advance  are  poor  in 
technique. 

1.  What  can  you  say  of  the  third  Canto? 

2.  Tell  us  about  Locksley  Hall. 

3.  Compare  Marcus  Aurelius  with  Paul. 

The  last  question  is  a type  which  is  much  in  vogue  in  English  classes.  The  scope 
of  the  question  is  not  too  great  provided  the  points  of  comparison  are  clearly 
defined.  I should  consider  such  question  worthy  of  study  if  the  teacher  had 
taken  some  selected  memoirs  from  "Meditations”  written  by  Marcus  Aurelius  and 
compared  them  with  the  Epistles  to  the  Philippians  4:8  v/ritten  by  Paul.  Pupils 
would  then  have  had  a keener  appreciation  of  the  ideals  and  the  philosophy  of 
the  pagan  emperor.  Unless  the  points  of  similarity  are  specified  in  the  question, 
the  answers  are  apt  to  be  fragmentary,  straggling  and  unsatisfactory. 

5.  Repeating  answers  after  pupils  claims  the  greatest  share  of  faulty 
technique  from  the  grade  schools  to  the  high  school.  The  universal  excuse  of- 
fered for  this  sort  of  procedure  is  to  make  the  answer  emphatic.  High  efficiency 
in  class  work  is  doubtful  where  the  repetition  of  answers  is  prevalent,  for  it 
releases  the  pupil  from^he  responsibility  of  making  the  matter  clear  to  his  class- 
mates and  it  permits  the  class  to  lapse  into  a reverie,  thus  reducing  the  ef- 
ficiency of  class  instruction. 

6.  To  ask  a large  number  of  questions  is  a mark  of  faulty  technique  in 
teaching.  A large  number  of  questions  suggests  the  total  absence  of  the  psycho- 
logical principles  underlying  aim  and  method.  They  fail  to  traih  pupils  in 


66 


independent  thinking,  they  fail  to  invite  them  to  make  their  own  associations 
and  they  fail  to  offer  opportunities  for  the  niceties  of  speech.  The  following 
lines  quoted  frcra  an  English  class  represent  the  oral  expressions  of  the  pupils 
in  the  class  of  second  year  English  during  the  first  half  of  the  lesson: 
Romanticism. 

V/ordsworth  and  Coleridge. 

Too  deep  for  most  folks. 

Do  you  mean  in  structure? 

Scott’s  poetry  was  more  popular. 

Wrote  interesting  things. 

V/ordsworth  was  a poet;  Scott  was  a novelist. 

1771. 

Edinburgh. 

He  was  sick  and  lame. 

Don’t  know. 

She  knew  a lot  about  legends  and  Border  feuds. 

She  told  him  all  these  tales. 

Father  was  a barrister. 

She  was  closely  related  to  Walter. 

She  told  him  stories  about  family  heroes. 

7/ent  to  school  a few'  years  and  then  studied  law. 

Fair  student. 

Edinburgh. 

1771. 

Didn't  take  any  interest  in  it. 

Yes. 

He  didn't  like  it. 

Because  he  wrote  books. 


. 


67 


"Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel",  "The  Lady  of  the  Lake",  "Mansion. " 

"Marmion." 

Yes. 

Don't  you  think  that  he  could  mak3  more  money  pleading  law  than  writing  hooks? 

Yes . 

I like  the  vivid  combat  between  James  and  Rhoderick  and  the  end  where  Snowdon's 
knights  bind  the  lovers  with  his  chain  of  gold. 

Don’t  you  like  the  songs  that  Scott  puts  into  the  Lady  of  the  Lake? 

"Busted  up"  with  printer  publishers. 

They  did  not  go  bankrupt  because  Scott's  novels  saved  the  company. 

Scott  attempted  to  pay  every  cent. 

Though  he  was  a silent  partner,  he  attempted  to  pay  the  million  dollar  debt. 
"Waverly",  "Guy  Mannering." 

Don't  know. 

He  rummaged  through  the  drawers  of  his  desk  for  a fishing  tackle  and  found  one 
of  his  old  stories  that  he  had  written  9 years  ago. 

Liked  stories  better. 

"Childe  Harold." 

In  order  to  make  the  oral  expression  of  the  pupils  stand  out  apart 
from  their  content  value,  I have  set  them  alone.  Most  of  the  answers  given  by 
pupils  constitute  a simple  sentence  of  one  line;  others  just  a single  word;  this 
fact  shows  conclusively  that  pupils  do  not  have  much  opportunity  for  oral  express- 
ion. Consecutive  discourse  is  necessary  to  effect  reflection.  School  practices 
generally  tend  to  interrupt  the  consecutiveness  of  oral  expression  of  pupils  by 
confining  their  class  discussions  to  brief  phrases  or  single  disconnected  sentenc- 
es. Explanations  are  reserved  for  the  teacher,  who  often  admits  any  hint  at  an 
answer  on  the  part  of  the  pupil,  and  then  amplifies  what  he  supposes  the  pupil 
must  have  meant.  "The  habits  of  sporadic  and  fragmentary  discourse  thus  promoted 


68 


have  inevitably  a disintegrating  intellectual  influence.”1 

Minute  and  detailed  questions  in  the  field  of  literature,  history  and 
political  science  break  up  the  unity  of  meaning  belonging  to  a given  portion  of 
matter,  destroy  the  perspective,  and  in  effect  reduce  the  whole  to  an  accumula- 
tion of  disconnected  details  all  upon  the  same  level. 

7.  Waste  of  time  in  class-room  procedure  is  faulty  technique.  The 
teacher  who  is  over-zealous  in  planning  the  assignment  so  minutely  so  as  to 
leave  nothing  for  the  pupil  to  work  out  is  reducing  the  efficiency  of  instruction 
by  wasting  time.  The  teacher  who  permits  his  pupil  to  shamble  to  his  feet,  mut- 
ter his  words  inaudibly  and  then  slide  back  into  his  seat  is  violating  the  prin- 
ciples of  good  technique  of  teaching.  First,  he  is  encouraging  the  pupil  to  be- 
come a sloven  in  his  habits  of  speech,  and  second,  he  is  inviting  the  class  to 
become  lazy,  shiftless,  and  inattentive.  The  teacher  who  is  scrupulous  about  the 
form  of  his  questions  and  yet  will  accept  inexact,  incomplete  and  unsatisfactory 
replies  is  retarding  the  efficiency  of  his  instruction  by  the  waste  of  time.  In 
the  report  on  Monasticism  the  teacher  asked: 

What  do  you  call  the  people  who  study  the  composition  of  soil  and  then 
treat  it  chemically  for  more  intensive  farming?  The  pupil  answered: 
"scientific  farming.”  This  answer  the  teacher  accepted  without  any 
compunction.  Again,  from  another  report  I quote  the  question:  "What 
difference  can  you  detect  between  the  Teutonic  and  the  Homan  La w?  The 
pupil  answered  with  much  poise  and  dignity:  The  Teutons  were  Indo- 
Europeans  who  made  invasions  on  the  Homan  Empire  during  the  fourth  and 
fifth  centuries.  They  had  only  a tribal  form  of  government,  am  un- 
disciplined array  and  a pagan  religion.  The  coming  of  these  barbarians 

1.  Dewey,  John,  How  we  Think,  p.185,  1910. 


69 


is  one  of  the  most  important  events  in  history.  It  marks  a turning  point 
in  history.  During  the  "Dark  Ages"  this  new  race  v/as  slowly  lifting 
itself  to  the  level  of  culture  that  the  Greeks  and  Homans  had  attained. 
This  answer  with  all  its  merits  was  far  from  answering  the  question. 

The  teacher  who  failed  to  check  up  his  pupil  and  make  him  see  that  the  Teutonic 
law  was  unwritten,  and  thus,  more  easily  distorted,  and  that  the  Homan  law 
was  written,  and  less  easily  distorted,  was  defeating  the  purpose  of  his  question, 
Teachers  in  general  are  far  less  scrupulous  and  careful  than  they 
should  he.  Pupils  will  prepare  their  work  thoroughly  and  will  think  methodically 
if  teachers  invariably  insist  on  their  doing  so.  Pupils  will  follow  the  line  of 
least  resistance,  and  ho  content  with  careless,  slipshod,  thoughtless  answers 
if  they  are  allowod  to  inculcate  such  a habit. 

The  greatest  difficulty  that  is  apparent  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  is 
to  formulate  questions  that  are  really  searching  and  really  stimulative  to 
mental  reaction  to  any  appreciable  degree.  I have  recently  analyzed  five  hundred 
questions  asked  by  teachers  all  of  whom  had  from  three  to  seven  years  of  exper- 
ience. Out  of  this  total  number  I found  7 per  cent  that  were  genuine  thought 
questions;  23  per  cent  were  of  the  calibre  of  the  mere  assent  and  denial  ques- 
tions, and  70  per  cent  purely  informational  and  quiz  questions. 

Stenographic  report,  4th  Grade  Geography. 

T.  7/hat  is  the  capital  of  New  York? 

P.  The  capital  of  New  York  is  Albany. 

T.  Ghat  is  the  capital  of  New  Jersey? 

P.  The  capital  of  New  Jersey  is  Trenton. 

T.  Spell  Trenton,  Mary  Francis. 

P.  T-r-e-n-t-o-n. 

T.  7/hat  is  the  capital  of  Pennsylvania,  James? 

P.  The  capital  of  Pennsylvania  is  Albany. 

T.  No.  Jomes,  are  you  guessing,  or  do  you  know?  Leon. 


70 


L.  The  capital  of  Pennsylvania  is  Harrisburgh. 

T.  Now,  James,  what's  the  capital  of  Pennsylvania? 

J.  The  capital  of  Pennsylvania  is  Harrisburgh. 

T.  Harrisburgh  is  the  capital  of  what? 

J,  Harrisburgh  is  the  capital  of  Pennsylvania. 

T.  Spell  Pennsylvania,  Burgetta. 

B.  P-e-n-n-s -y-l-v-a-n- i-a . 

T.  hat  is  the  capital  of  Pennsylvania,  Burgetta? 

B.  The  capital  of  Pennsylvania  is  Trenton. 

T.  How,  Burgetta,  what  is  the  use  for  you  to  learn  anything,  you  don't  remember 
it  anyway.  Tell  her  Billy. 

B.  The  capital  of  Pennsylvania  is  Harrisburgh. 

T.  What  is  it,  Burgetta? 

B.  The  capital  of  Pennsylvania  is  Harrisburgh. 

T.  here  in  the  middle  Atlantic  States  is  the  soil  fine  and  deep? 

P.  The  soil  is  fine  and  deep  in  the  middle  of  Hew  York  and  in  the  eastern  part 
of  Pennsylvania. 

T.  What  is  a glacier? 

P.  A glacier  is  a great  ice  sheet  which  moves  slowly  from  the  north. 

T.  Why  did  the  glacier  melt? 

P.  The  glacier  meltedbecause  it  came  down  in  a warmer  climate. 

T.  7/hat  is  the  effect  of  the  glacier  upon  the  soil? 

P.  The  glacier  makes  some  of  the  soil  rich  and  fine  and  some  stony  and  rocky. 

T.  What  part  of  Hew  York  is  covered  with  the  ice  sheet,  Paul? 

Paul.  The  northern  part 

T.  You  are  guessing,  Paul,  Tell  him,  Helen. 

H.  The  ice  sheet  oovered  almost  all  of  Hew  York  and  the  northern  part  of 


. 


71 


Pennsylvania,  and  New  Jersey. 

T.  Yes,  now  that’s  right.  Almost  all  of  New  York  and  the  northern  part  of 
Pennsylvania.  Nov/,  what  crops  are  raised  in  the  Middle  Atlantic  States? 

P.  'wheat,  com,  oats  and  "barley. 

T.  What  fruits  are  grown  there? 

P.  Apples,  grapes  and  all  kinds  of  fruits. 

T.  Are  bananas  grown  there? 

Y-e-s. 

T.  Now,  you  don’t  know,  you  are  trying  to  guess.  John,  what  fruits  are  grown 
there . 

J.  Apples,  grapes  and  peaches. 

Stenographic  report  of  8th  grade  Seograj/hy. 

T.  In  what  latitude  is  Argentina? 

P.  30°-40°3outh  latitude. 

T.  Eow  does  Argentina  rank  in  size  with  the  other  countries  of  South  America? 

P.  It  is  the  largest. 

I.  Yes,  it  is  the  largest  of  the  Spanish  Republics  and  also  the  most  progressive. 
Describe  its  surface. 

P.  The  surface  slopes  up  to  a high  plateau  near  the  base  of  the  Andes.  South 
of  the  Salado  river  it  is  fertile.  The  northern  part  is  v/airo  and  moist. 

T.  What  kind  of  vegetation  grows  in  warn  and  wet  regions? 

P.  Usually  woods. 

T.  Name  the  chief  rivers. 

P.  Colorado,  Salado  and  

T.  And  the  largest  one  is  what? 

P.  Parana. 

T.  If  you  were  interested  in  sheep  raising  what  part  of  Argentina  would  you  go? 
Derril . 


72 


D.  I would,  go  to  southern  part  where  there  is  good  pasture  for  sheep  some- 
where near  a city  so  I could  have  good  market  for  wool  and  meat. 

T.  '.That  is  the  capital  of  Argentina? 

P.  Bunos  — Ai , I can’t  pronounce  it,  but  I can  spell  it. 

T.  Bunos  Aires,  \7hat  are  the  products  exported  from  this  city? 

P.  Heats,  wheat,  com,  tallow,  hide  and  wool. 

T.  If  you  were  interested  in  the  growing  of  wheat,  and  corn,  where  in  Argentina 
would  you  settle? 

P.  I would  stay  in  Illinois  if  I wanted  to  be  a farmer,  but  if  someone  in  Argen- 
tina wanted  to  farm  he  ought  to  go  to  the  central  part  because  the  soil  in 
the  pampas  is  fertile  and  the  rainfall  is  sufficient  for  farming. 

?.  Vi/hat  is  the  product  from  the  north? 

P.  Tugar. 

The  second  geography  report  is  not  entirely  quoted  but  a sufficient 
quanty  is  quoted  to  assure  one  that  the  thought  side  of  geography  is  neglected. 
Prom  both  reports  one  may  conclude  with  safety  that  geography  is  taught  as  a mass 
of  disconnected,  unrelated  facts  supposed  to  be  memorized.  The  subject  matter 
bears  little  relationship  to  the  interest  or  the  needs  of  the  child.  In  the 
fourth  grade  geography  lesson  the  pupils  would  have  had  an  interest  in  glaciers 
and  their  effects  upon  soils  if  they  had  learned  that  this  same  glacier  which 
covered  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  Ifew  Jersey  also  came  down  through  Illinois  and 
left  the  rich  alluvial  deposits  which  make  our  great  com  lands  possible. 

Good  geography  instruction  not  only  furnishes  a child  with  useful  and 
interesting  facts,  but  it  can  afford  one  of  the  best  opportunities  possible  for 
constructive  thinking  on  the  part  of  the  child.  If  geography  were  approached 
from  an  inductive  point  of  view,  it  would  not  belong  before  children  would  ac- 
quire an  inquiring  attitude  of  mind  toward  the  subject  and  would  be  able  to  think 


73 


about  their  ordinary  environment  and  observation. 

"Geography,"  says  Dewey,  "^"of  course,  has  its  educational  influence  in  a 
counterpart  connection  of  natural  facts  with  social  events  and  their  conse- 
quences. The  definition  of  geography  as  an  account  of  the  earth  as  the  home  of 
man  expresses  the  educational  reality  But  it  is  easier  to  give  this  definition 
than  it  is  to  present  specific  geographical  subject  matter  in  its  vital  human 
bearings.  The  residence,  pursuits,  successes  and  failures  of  men  are  the  things 
that  give  the  geographic  data  their  reason  for  inclusion  inthe  material  of  in- 
struction. But  to  hold  the  two  together  requires  an  informed  and  cultivated 
imagination.  When  the  ties  are  broken  geography  presents  itself  as  the  hodge- 
podge of  unrelated  fragments  too  often  found.  It  appears  as  a veritable  rag-bag 
of  intellectual  odds  and  ends;  the  height  of  a mountain  here,  the  course  of  a 
river  there,  the  quantity  of  shingles  produced  in  this  town,  the  tonnage  of  the 
shipping  in  that,  the  boundary  of  the  country  and  the  capital  of  the  state." 


T.  What  are  bacteria? 

P.  They  are  small  unicellular  plants  of  the  simplest  structure  and  of  three  prin- 
cipal forms:  rods,  balls,  and  spirals.  Rods  are  called  bacilla,  the  balls, 
cocci,  and  the  spirals,  spirella. 

T.  They  are  found  where? 

P.  They  are  found  everywhere , air,  water  and  underground  a few  feet  below  the 
surface. 

T.  Where  are  they  found  most  excessively? 

P.  In  decaying  matter,  manure,  filth,  slime,  alimentary  canal,  hair,  nails  and 
on  flies. 

T.  How  do  they  reproduce  themselves? 

1.  Dewey,  John,  Democracy  and  Education,  p.248,  1921. 


Stenographic  report  of  biology,  10th  grade. 


Glass  examines  cultures  of  bacteria. 


I 


. 

' 


74 


P.  They  grow  "by  division. 

T.  Yes,  they  grow  "by  cell  division  and  reproduce  rapidly  if  all  conditions  are 
favorable.  In  a few  cases,  sane  bacteria  are  capable  of  producing  within 
themselves  smaller  cells,  called  spores,  which  have  thick  walls  and  have 
great  resistance.  Spores  are  more  difficult  to  destroy  than  vegetative  or 
growing  cells . 

P.  Do  these  spores  ever  produce  diseases? 

T.  No,  not  among  people  but  sometimes  among  cattle.  Anthrax  is  a very  important 
disease  caused  by  spores.  Before  Louis  Pasteur  found  a treatment  Prance  lost 
20  million  dollars  worth  of  cattle  a year. 

T.  How  do  bacteria  live? 

P.  They  absorb  food  through  their  cell  walls. 

T.  Prom  your  study  and  observation  of  bacteria  would  you  consider  bacteria 
plants  or  animals? 

P.  They  are  animals  because:  1.  they  move  about. 

2.  they  live  upon  complex  foods. 

T.  Did  you  ever  see  animals  of  rod  or  spiral  shapes  or  see  animals  develop  by 
fission  or  by  spores? 

P.  Ho,  in  the  respect  to  shape  and  growth  they  resemble  plants  but  I think  that 
they  are  animals  because  plants  must  have  chlorophyll  to  manufacture  their 
own  food. 

T.  Your  reasoning  is  good,  the  outstanding  difference  between  plants  and  bacteria 
is  that  plants  have  chlorophyll  and  bacteria  do  not.  The  absence  of  chloro- 
has  forced  them  to  feed  upon  complex  foods.  They  are  looked  upon  as  a low 
form  of  plants  without  chlorophyll. 

T.  V/hy  are  bacteria  of  such  interest  to  the  physiologist? 

P.  Because  bacteria  decompose  and  decay  foods  like  milk,  butter,  and  eggs. 

T.  ^/hat  methods  do  you  use  to  retard  the  decomposition  of  foods?  How  can  you 


75 


keep  fruits  and  vegetables  from  putrefying? 

P.  By  canning,  preserving  in  sugar  and  drying. 

T.  How  are  meats  saved  from  bacterial  decay? 

P.  Hefrigeration  saves  meat  for  a while  because  bacteria  can  live  in  cold 
temperature  but  they  do  not  die. 

T.  Yes,  refrigeration  is  one  way,  but  smoking  and  sugar  curing,  preserving  in 
salt  or  canning  are  means  of  saving  meats  from  bacterial  decay. 

Why  are  some  bacteria  of  interest  to  the  farmer?  James,  you  are  studying 
farming  and  live  on  a farm,  tell  us. 

James.  There  are  some  bacteria  that  decay  the  vegetable  matter  and  make  the 
soil  fertile.  There  is  one  group  of  bacteria  that  makes  ammonia;  there  is 
another  group  which  changes  this  ammonia  to  other  compounds;  then  there  is 
another  group  which  changes  the  nitrites  into  nitrates.  Then  there  is  a 
group  of  bacteria  which  enters  the  roots  of  certain  kinds  of  plants.  These 
bacteria  take  pure  nitrogen  from  the  air  and  make  it  possible  for  plants  to 
use. 

T.  7/hat  plants  have  these  bacteria  in  their  roots? 

P.  Cow  peas,  alfalfa. 

T.  Yes,  cow  peas,  alfalfa,  clover,  soy  beans,  in  fact,  any  legume. 

T.  Why  is  bacteria  of  interest  to  the  hygienist? 

P.  He  is  interested  because  of  the  Infections  and  contagious  diseases  which  some 
bacteria  produce. 

T.  How  do  they  produce  poison? 

P.  They  secrete  it  from  their  bodies. 

T.  Yes,  some  bacteria  enter  plants  and  secrete  a poison  which  causes  diseases 
such  as:  black  rot  on  cabbage,  and  blight  on  pear  and  apple  trees.  Here  is  a 
twig  from  an  apple  tree.  See  how  black  and  shriveled  up  it  is. 

P.  Why  does  it  turn  black? 


. 


76 


T.  These  bacteria  cannot  live  long  in  the  direct  sunlight  but  they  can  live  dur- 
ing the  winter  but  when  the  wam  weather  comes  the  diseased  twigs  become 
blackened  and  wilted.  How  is  this  disease  spread? 

P.  Insects  carry  it  from  flowers  or  from  the  gummy  substance  sometimes  formed 
on  a tree  that  has  blight. 

T.  How  would  you  prevent  spread  of  blight  in  your  orchard? 

P.  Cut  and  bum  limbs. 

T.  How  would  you  prevent  spread  even  while  pruning?  You  would  have  to  sterilize 
your  knife  in  carbolic  acid  each  time  that  you  cut  a limb.  Wouldn’t  you? 

T.  In  your  community  what  are  the  chief  needs  for  a better  understanding  of 

the  bacterial  diseases  Just  what  can  your  Board  of  health  do  to  combat 

diseases?  How  can  you  yourself  help  to  fi^it  them? 

P.  To  fight  flies,  to  stay  at  home  when  I am  sick,  to  have  my  house  disinfected 
after  I have  had  a contagious  disease. 

T.  What  tv/o  conditions  are  necessary  for  a contagious  disease?  Yes,  why  do  some 
people  become  exposed  to  diseases  yet  do  not  fall  victims  to  them? 

P.  Because  they  are  healthy  and  can  fight  them. 

T.  Just  ri$it,  so  the  biggest  job  that  you  have  is  to  keep  your  bodies  strong 
and  well  by  good  wholesome  foods,  regular  sleep  and  daily  exercises  so  as  to 
ward  off  certain  bacteria. 

Prom  the  preceding  stenographic  reports  and  many  others,  I liave  discover- 
ed two  broad  types  of  questions  used,  those  which  call  forth  facts  accumulated 
in  memory  and  those  which  provoke  reflection.  Pure  memory  questions  are  good 
questions  to  use  occasionally,  but  the  element  of  memory  is  used  in  all  the  better 
questions  then  why  ask  a score  of  pure  memory  questions  when  a half-dozen  better 
questions  can  be  made  to  embody  memory  and  at  the  same  time  call  for  the  associa- 
tion in  memory,  and  some  exercise  of  judgment?  Such  type  of  question  is  found 


77 


in  the  report  on  the  study  of  bacterial  From  your  study  and  observation  would 
you  consider  bacteria  plants  or  animals?  Also,  In  your  commuhity  what  are  the 
chief  needs  for  a better  understanding  of  the  bacterial  diseases?  To  answer 
these  questions  the  pupil  must  use  his  memory  to  be  sure,  but  at  the  same  time 
he  can  make  associations  and  exercise  his  judgment. 

Factual  or  memory  questions  are  sometimes  contrasted  with  thought  ques- 
tions to  the  neglect  of  the  former;  if  the  purpose  of  the  teacher  is  to  drill 
or  to  test  for  knowledge  then  he  will  ask  questions  that  will  elicit  the  fact. 
During  my  study,  I recorded  far  too  many  questions  in  which  thought  was  not  in 
the  least  involved  in  getting  the  answer.  Frequently,  the  re  v/as  no  connection 
even  between  the  first  question  and  the  next.  There  is  a definite  place  for  the 
factual  question  but  certainly  the  legitimate  function  of  the  question  is  more 
than  just  to  trifle  with  time  or  merely  to  enliven  the  memory. 

The  factual  questions  find  justification  in  testing  the  knowledge  of 
the  pupil  and  in  making  emphatic  facts  already  known  to  the  learner.  The  factual 
questions  which  do  not  aim  primarily  to  discover  what  the  pupil  knows  but  seeks 
to  impress  upon  him  more  emphatically  that  with  which  he  is  already  familiar  are 
extremely  wasteful  in  resul ts  unless  they  secure  the  mental  response  of  the  group 
as  a v/hole.  When  the  whole  class  is  alert  and  eager  to  learn,  as  sometimes  is 
the  case  with  a group  of  superior  students,  this  type  of  factual  question  or 
drill  question  becomes  uninteresting. 

The  chief  reason  for  the  lack  of  interest  in  the  school  work  is  the 
failure  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  to  introduce  questions  which  require  thinking. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  discuss  the  psychology  of  attention  and  interest  at  this 
point,  yet  ary  factor  which  challenges  the  attention  will  foster  interest.  This 
does  not  mean  that  interest  v/ill  continue  because  questions  are  asked,  but  it 
does  mean  that  the  teacher  has  an  instrument  of  increasing  the  interest  in  the 


question 


•-  s 


78 


"By  means  of  the  question  the  teacher  can  keep  the  mind  of  the  pupil 
up  to  the  growing  point  making  it  alert  and  thoughtful.  The  question  is,  in 
short,  the  universal  implement  of  good  teaching,  applicable  to  all  ages  of  pupils 
and  suitable  to  all- states  of  instruction."  -*■ 


1.  DeGarmo,  Oharles,  Interest  and  Education,  p,  179 


